Sorrow on wheels
by Sonicgirl582
Summary: I don't want to put a summary for this one because i think it would ruin the surprise since there is a huge twist that happens to Sonic. This story is YAOI, so if you don't like don't read. If interested please read. ShadowxSonic or Sonadow. MY 1st STORY
1. The beast of forgotten past

Sorrow on wheels

The beast of forgotten past

Fire pierced the black night sky as screams of terror filled the smoky air, people bolted as they tried to escape the unknown threat that was inches upon them. Huge claws tore the ground apart and vile red blood oozed from the beast that roared angrily at its fleeing prey.

The smell of blood was so rich it was sickly as it trailed down the nose of the choking hero that was approaching the chaos, his blue spikes slightly ruffled from awakening from another dreamless sleep, his emerald eyes shone against the flickering embers and a new determination was born as he saw the fear that had swept across Soleanna.

Smirking and sliding his finger across the bridge of his nose as he always did when he was getting cocky he started to run towards the foul beast. It was almost like a giant monstrous wolf as it towered over the debris of the crushed houses, its eyes a green that could rival that of the hedgehogs itself.

The smoke filled air was difficult to breathe and the hedgehog could not help but cough as he choked, the blood scented air so strong that it almost blinded him from his strong sense of smell, it was unbearable.

Dodging the ruins as he ran the hedgehog circled the beast and, for the first time, sonic narrowed his eyes at the beast as it was able to keep its eyes on him even when he was running at top speed.

_This beast...is not normal_, sonic thought as he continued to run in different directions in an attempt to lose it or just confuse it.

His attempts failed and with an all mighty the roar the beast lashed out at him with a huge clawed hand. Sonics eyes widened and he quickly leapt backwards to try and avoid it. The claw scraped his chest leaving a giant gash and blood.

Sonic screamed as he fell back and clutched his chest, this thing was quick, unnaturally quick. He started to feel frustrated and he gritted his teeth as he stood up, there was something wrong with this.

The creature started letting off a strange scream that pierced straight through Sonics mind, he clutched his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, it was agonising. When he slowly opened his eyes all he could see was a blur of the screaming people running past him as a strange dizziness swept through out his whole being.

He felt a hard hit to the head and the last thing he saw was the floor as he smashed into it before everything went black.


	2. The Accident

The accident

Sonic felt horrible as he leaned on his elbows in an attempt to get up, his body was burnt and every single muscle in his body ached. The ground was covered in dust and the black smoke still filled the red sky, the people of Soleanna were still screaming as he finally got onto his shaky feet.

He groaned in pain at his chest where a neatly cut gash was spread right across; his ears folded back as he hissed in pain. His head felt like it had had a mountain dropped on it as he swayed unsteadily from side to side, when he finally found a wall to lean against he took a chance to look around.

The whole city was practically in ruins and in the distance he could see the vile beast stalking the civilians, a growl emerged from his throat as he saw the beast grab innocent people and throw them into the surrounding waters.

He started limping forward in an attempt to even get closer to the beast, but he was so beaten up he didn't even make a couple of steps before collapsing again.

A foot and pressure could suddenly be felt on his back and he was just about to flip over and attack when he heard a familiar voice that made him relax.

"What the hell are you doing, Faker."

"Huh ah...well, ya know me shadow...never a dull moment, ah!...not even when I'm beaten to a pulp." Sonic attempted to grin at him but it came out more like a pained grimace.

The pressure on his back lessened slightly and sonic curiously turned his head so he could see shadow, the look on the other hedgehogs face was almost like pity but it was gone just as fast as it came.

Shadow removed his foot and reloaded his gun, he had been busy on a GUN mission before having an emergency call from the Soleanna mission station and by the look of things he could see why.

He glared at the blue hedgehog on the floor before giving a `humph` and walking away, leaving the injured one there.

"Hey, ah...Don't leave me here!" Sonics voice was feeble and tired.

Shadow stopped in his tracks, sonic was not sure what he was doing before shadow said without turning round.

"You are not going anywhere, you can't even stand up Faker." Was all shadow said before he continued to walk away.

Sonic snarled at him, but he let it go knowing that it was completely true. But that did not mean he was not going to try.

Shadow released the trigger and shot frantically at the beast, but no matter how much he shot it seemed to have no effect.

"I can see why the faker had trouble, even I'm having trouble." He muttered under his breath.

"Come in shadow...Come in."

Shadow tapped the device on his wrist whilst he dodged another attack from the beast; he rolled sideways and hid behind a lump of ruined house.

"What is it Rouge I'm busy right now." He snarled through the communicator.

"Ohhhh touchy...anyway have you found sonic yet." Rouges Cocky voice spoke over the line.

"Humph, that piece of low-life brings me no interest; it's this beast that grabs my attention at the moment." Shadow stated rudely before looking over the ruin and widening his eyes as he just managed to dodge the beast's claws, the piece of ruin was smashed to bits.

"Shadow! Your mission was to find him...he's...you know." Rouges voice seemed to quieten at the end as if it was top secret.

"I know what?" shadow blinked as he tried to hear what she was saying, panting as he continued to dodge and try to find a hiding place.

"H..i...nk...o..ory." Rouges voice was breaking up.

"What? I can't understand you!" Shadow growled as he tapped the device trying to make it work.

Suddenly shadow got hit in the stomach and went flying into a broken building; he went straight through the fragile wall and landed on the broken table of what was kitchen of the house.

He looked up to see the sky still red and dark in the night, the moon so hard to see through the smoke it was almost not visible at all.

Shadow groaned as he lifted himself up, brushing dust off of himself before looking out of a hole in the wall to find the beast. He saw the one thing he didn't want to.

Sonic was quite faraway but close enough for the beast to spot him, he cursed under his breath before quickly exiting the house.

All he could feel was pain, pain in his arms, pain in his legs and pain in his head. He was all pain and nothing else, not even common sense.

"You foolish and insolent Hedgehog!" Shadow shouted as he stomped towards him, pure fury and a small pinch of...something else in his eyes.

Sonic once again tried to place what it was but once again it disappeared, shadow roughly grabbed his arm and yanked him forward. Sonic gave a cry of pain as he felt his wounds open up again and start to ooze blood.

"Did you not hear what I told you? Or are you just an idiot?" Shadow screamed at him, sonic flinched at the rough treatment.

Shadow seemed to notice the pain the other was going through and loosened his grip on Sonics arm ever so slightly, but his glare held firm. All the Ruckus shadow was causing caught the attention of the beast.

"Do you not understand your own condition? For God sake look at yourself!" Shadow growled at him showing his fangs.

Sonic slowly looked up at him. Shadow's eyes widened at the sorrow and misery held in the others eyes. Shadow let go of his arm.

"Sonic?" shadow asked, his tone strangely gentle.

"Sha-AHHHHH" Sonic screamed as the beast grabbed him and started to squeeze tight. Suddenly GUN agents started appearing all over the place, behind houses, behind trees and behind what ever they could fit behind. Shadow had backup. Shadow smirked and reloaded his gun, taking a couple of steps back.

"Sh-Shadow!" Sonic croaked, the air was being squeezed from his lungs.

"Shadow stop!" A female voice screamed.

Shadow turned round to come face to face with none other than Rouge and it seemed she had come back from a mission too since there were blood stains on her clothes, he rolled his eyes at her. It was not the fact he hated rouge, far from it in fact since she was one of his first ever friends, it was her sassy nature that pissed him off.

"Shadow don't shoot, you could hit Sonic!" She gasped out as she tried to catch her breath.

Shadow snorted and lowered his gun feeling slightly agitated at the thought of being doubted with his own gun, it was his own private one after all. His red eyes shot daggers at Rouge as she came towards him and when she snatched the gun from him and tossed it to an agent behind her he was absolutely mortified.

"HEY! THA-"

"Don't even try shadow, I know it's your gun but you can have it when the deed is done!" She glared at him through narrowed eyes. For some reason this always stopped Shadow in his tracks and he fell silent. He crossed his arms and huffed in defiance, even though they both knew that Rouge had won.

"Good boy, now let's get to business." She smiled sweetly at the ebony hedgehog before giving the signal with a wave of her hand. Shadow looked away annoyed out of his mind.

GUN agents swept onto the battle field, yelling their battle cries as they unleashed their weapons. The weapons were just net shooting equipment; they flew at the beast from all angles and helped to tangle up the beasts legs, but its claws were too sharp and they easily swiped through the netting and neatly cutting all the way through.

Sonic was now unconscious in the beast's death grip and blood was dripping to floor from his chest that had been squeezed so tightly. Shadow once again had that look in his eyes at seeing his once rival in dire need, rouge broke him away from his thoughts. She was fiddling with some sort of machine that had suddenly appeared out of no where behind him.

"Shadow move out of the way!" She demanded. Shadow snarled at her bossiness but did as he was told and came to see what she was doing.

"May I ask why you are using these pathetic humans; it is obvious it is in vain!" Shadow said impatiently as he watched her work.

"For that exact reason Shadow, they are only a diversion whilst I sort this thing out. Now why don't you make yourself useful and help me out." She said exasperatedly as she waved her arms about, it was obvious it was irritating her.

He was going to say a rude remark but thought better of it since Rouge could find some really disturbing punishments given the time. He knelt down beside her and examined the machine. It was a very technical one and had many wires and buttons; he didn't know why Rouge would think he could do anything since this was more of Omega's job.

Suddenly she did something to a wire and the machine sprang into action, sparks shot out of the machine and it let out large bolts of lightning that zoomed towards the beast, unfortunately for the beast it was paying more attention to the retreating GUN agents.

The lightning bolts turned into an electrifying net that tied up the beast instantly, it screeched in pain for a few seconds before collapsing in a large heap, sonic fell from its grasp.

"Sonic!" Shadow shouted with out thinking and suddenly started running towards him.

"SHADOW NO! THE NET HASN'T CALMED DOWN YET!" Rouge shouted desperately.

Sonic was stirring back into reality to see shadow dodging lightning as he ran towards him, his vision was blurry from blood loss but he could still make shadow out. His whole body was numb and cold and all he could feel was the blood dripping from his wounded chest.

He felt a strong grip grab his wrist and pull him up, his eyelids were so heavy and he felt so crushed that he could hardly breathe as he felt Shadow put his arm around his waist to support him.

"For God sake Faker get a grip!" He shook Sonic slightly in an attempt to keep him awake.

The machine that was with Rouge was making really odd noises and Rouge quirked an eyebrow at it in confusion. It suddenly started beeping and alerts appeared all over the screen. It was going from green to red.

"Oh no it's overloading!" She screamed.

At the same time the beast was awakening and had immediately spotted the black hedgehog and his prey getting away. Its yellow eyes widened and it suddenly shot a clawed hand towards them.

Suddenly everything seemed to move in slow motion. The clawed hand reached out at them. The machine let out a bolt of lightning. Shadow had barely enough time to spot the attack from the beast before quickly moving Sonic to his other side. Suddenly Sonic screamed and shadows eyes widened in shock as the lightning hit sonic dead on. He had saved sonic from the beast but not from the unexpected lightening. In fact, he threw Sonic right into it!

Time slowed down even more for Shadow as he saw Sonic hit a wall and scream as the net electrified him. Shadow was frozen to the spot and his eyes were filled with shock. He could hear the distant scream of fright from Rouge and the many sounds of pounding feet as the GUN agents ran back onto the scene. Time was practically at a stand still for shadow as the GUN agents were running really slowly around him.

The last thing Sonic saw was Shadow standing there in shock just staring at him as the GUN agents ran past. That was all Sonic could remember before the world once again fell to darkness.


	3. The terrible truth is told

**Hi everyone, sorry i got a little busy but here is the next chapter. please read, enjoy and review, i won't bite :)**

The terrible truth is told

"Is he going to be alright...?" Said a concerned female voice

"...I am not sure; they are quite...serious injuries." An older male voice replied

"What do you mean serious injuries!" An often annoyed voice shouted

Sonic could hear distant voices in the hospital room where he was staying, belonging to Rouge, the doctor and Shadow. He was in a half-a- sleep state and so could not make things out properly.

"Well...his injuries were...incurable." The doctors' voice continued.

"What do you mean by incurable?" asked Rouge.

"It means exactly what it means, his injuries were incurable...he will have them for life."

"That's a lie! I don't believe that!" Shadow shouted again.

"Hmmm..." Sonic groaned as he came back to reality. Everyone in the room froze as his eyes slowly opened. There standing around his bed were Rouge, shadow and the doctor holding some strange sheets of paper, as soon as he saw Sonic looking however he hid them away in his white coat.

"Good afternoon Sonic, I see you slept well." The doctor gave him a smile as Sonic looked around the room confused.

"Wh-where am I?" Sonic asked feeling a little out of place.

"You are at the hospital." The doctor replied and Sonic saw Shadow roll his eyes at him for asking such a stupid question.

"You have been unconscious for three days now, but now that you are awake I need to check you a little more. You lost a lot of blood three days ago, took us ages to find your blood type to help replenish your blood supplies. You have a rare blood type." The doctor took out his papers again and examined them as he filled sonic in on the gaps.

Rouge nudged Shadows arm and shadow gave her a quizzical look before she made them go outside. The corridors were bustling with doctors and nurses as they carried on with their daily jobs, the hospital smelled strange to Shadow and it made him uncomfortable since it reminded him of the days on the Space Colony where he was created. That strange, chemical smell that would always haunt him for the rest of his life. That scream of the one that he cherished so dear. The scream of...Maria.

"Shadow?" Rouge gently nudged his shoulder. Shadow blinked a couple of times; it was almost as if he was in a trance.

"You seemed quite riled up about Sonic, why is this?" Rouge smirked at him through lip stick covered lips.

"Not because of what you are thinking of is all I have to say." Shadow replied roughly and was about to walk away when rouge grabbed his wrist. Their eyes locked for a moment and Shadow could feel Rouge searching his eyes for something. A small smile appeared on her face but it quickly faded.

"You think...that this is your fault, don't you?" her eyes were soft with sympathy.

Shadow froze for a moment before growling at her and tugging his arm away, "No! I have no feelings for that Faker, either it be regret or sympathy, I hold none." He said harshly and walked away.

"Harsh Shadow...very harsh." Rouge muttered as she scowled at the others behaviour. The scowl immediately turned into a look of deep thought as she also looked back at the event that had happened three days ago, was it Shadows fault that sonic was permanently scarred...or hers?

"Well, your blood pressure is fine and your temperature is normal. However you still have to remain in hospital for a further week to ensure that nothing bad happens." the old doctor smiled gently at the blue hedgehog now sitting up on the bed.

"Do you feel anything out of the ordinary?" The doctor asked as he removed the pressure strap from Sonics arm and placed it back in a black suitcase.

"Well, my legs feel strangely numb. Is that normal considering the blood loss and all?" Sonic replied.

"I don't think so. You have had three days and your blood count is normal, you should not have numbness in your legs for that reason. Although, your legs may feel like that because of your condition." The doctor shrugged as he zipped up his case. Sonics' eyes widened.

"My condition?"

"Don't worry Sonic. Just stay in bed and don't try to get out, we will tell you when we think you are ready." The doctor smiled one more time before opening the door to leave.

"Oh and by the way, my name is Chuck, Chuck Thorndyke. So if you need anything ask a nurse to get me."

"Thanks Chuck, will do." Sonic smiled and gave him the thumbs up as the doctor left the room.

Sonics ears folded back as he started thinking, _my...condition?_

Shadow felt the breeze through his spikes as he sat on the roof of the hospital, the view of the entire city of Soleanna was relaxing in its own sort of way. All Shadow could think about was the incident that day, the shock he felt and Rouges scream filling his ears was almost like the scream of Maria.

His eyes shot open at that thought and he shook his head wildly in attempt to get the horrid memory out of his head. _If Maria were here, she would say to me` help him`... since it is my fault_, Shadow thought to himself as he rested his chin on his hand. He could hear Rouges high heels on the roof tiles but did not turn round.

"The doctor said to come down...he has something to tell us."

Sonic started feeling lonely, not that it bothered him much but it did feel strange being confined in a hospital room and not being allowed to move from the bed. Sonics' legs were so numb, in fact he could not feel them at all and it was almost as if he did not have any. That thought made him suddenly lift the cover up in fright but he sighed in relief when he saw he still had his legs.

"Maybe it was a drug they gave me whilst I was unconscious, yeah...that must be it." He said to himself as he put the cover back down. _But, what if it's this condition the Doc keeps talking about, _sonic thought as a horrible negative feeling filled him.

"Rouge, I must ask for you to remain outside since I think it is better for Shadow to know and him alone." The Doctor asked and he held a hand up as she started to protest. Rouge huffed and crossed her arms as she took a seat on a green couch in the waiting room. Shadow narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he was led into a dark room.

"Are you sure that you are alright, I think we should wait for your doctor." The Nurse asked in a concerned voice as she watched Sonic lift himself onto the wheelchair.

"Nah, I'm fine. You can't keep me in here for ever." Sonic answered and he grinned at the concern in the nurses' voice. The nurse was not convinced but opened the door as Sonic wheeled himself out. Avoiding the working nurses and wheeling down the corridor he started to think he would head towards the hospital cafeteria to get one of those all famous chilly-dogs.

As he was passing one of the rooms he saw Rouge sitting in there admiring a crystal that was twinkling in her hands and several magazines were open and tossed randomly around her, it was obvious that she had been waiting quite a while. _Waiting for what?_ Sonic thought as he continued wheeling past. Sonic made it to the cafeteria and successfully got a chilly-dog free because he was a patient and also the worlds most well known hedgehog, it was when he was travelling back to his room that he heard someone familiar.

"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" A loud voice shouted from the next room up, Sonics ears pricked at recognising Shadows voice. The next thing said was by another voice, but the door was shut and because it was not shouting sonic could not make out anything. He pressed his ear to the door and listened.

"I am afraid so..."

Sonics eyes widened, _that was Chuck's voice_. He continued to listen.

"So, are you telling me that _this_ was his serious injury?" shadow sounded irritated.

"Well ye-"

"DON'T!" shadow interrupted, not being able to take it in.

There was a pause of suspense building silence as Sonic was now desperate to know what was going on. He leaned forward a little in his wheelchair.

"Don't...don't say that to me. It's a lie!" Shadow sounded a little calmer.

"I am sorry," Chuck's voice was filled with the deepest sympathy, "the electricity hit a pacific part of his brain when he was shocked, his injuries before hand made him weak and he could not fight the inevitable. He is now...and permanently...disabled."

Sonic felt the life drain out of him in that second alone, his eyes were filled with shock as his chilly-dog dropped to the floor. _I'm...disabled._

**END OF CHAPTER**

**OH MY GOD I BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING HUH!**

**PLEASE WAIT FOR MY NEXT CHAPTER SINCE I WILL TRY TO GET IT IN ASAP.**


	4. Sonic shows signs

**THIS IS A RELATIVELY SORT CHAPTER BUT WHAT'S IN IT IS IMPORTANT, please review :)**

Sonic shows signs

"SONIC!" Amy screamed as she threw herself at him, he grimaced like he always did but was too hollow inside to care.

"Hello Mr Sonic," Cream said politely as she bowed, "I brought you a gift." She held up a beautiful bouquet of yellow lilies wrapped in blue paper.

Sonic knew it was there, he knew they were all there, but he was just too upset and dying inside to even speak.

"Sonic?" Sonic could see in the corner of his eye that cream had tears building up in her eyes.

"Thank you cream." He said bluntly and tried to muster a smile. The tears immediately faded and cream looked at him curiously, it was obvious that something was wrong, terribly wrong.

"Hey Sonic my love, why don't we go out for a date when you're up for it?" The Oblivious Amy asked with way too much enthusiasm in her voice. Sonic suddenly looked even more miserable and bowed his head.

"Sonic?" it suddenly hit Amy that something was indeed wrong.

Shadow who was outside Sonics room listening and was peering through the cracked open door at him. _He's found out, I don't how and I don't when but he's found out_, Shadows thoughts were screaming at him as he remained out of view of the already deteriorating hedgehog.

"Shadow." Rouge called as she glided down the corridor towards him with the crystal still in her hand.

"If you are going to ask what the doctor told me I am not answering, it is very personal." Shadow whispered as he took another peek through the door to make sure Sonic had not heard him.

"Was it really that bad?" Rouge now looked concerned as she fiddled with her crystal nervously. Shadow noticed her behaviour and was just about to ask when Amy came barging out almost knocking him over.

"My darling has not seen me for so long that he is heart broken."

"I don't think it's that Amy." Cream tried to persuade her that it was truly something else as she had to jog in order to keep up with the love struck hedgehog.

Shadow blinked at the two leaving before looking back into the room with its door now wide open, Sonic had his head bowed in such a way that it concealed his eyes. From those hidden eyes a single tear trailed down his cheek and drop to the bed sheets.

Shadows eyes widened, he had never seen Sonic cry before. He felt Rouge breathing down his neck as she looked over his shoulder and to save Sonics dignity he dragged her by the arm away. Rouge looked at his actions with distaste, but she knew that shadow would only act like this if there was something really wrong. As they left the hospital Shadow had to close his eyes for second as the sunlight brought pain to his eyes, he had refused to leave the hospital until Sonic was well enough to leave and so had not been in proper sunlight for at least five days. This however also meant that he had denied all GUN missions sent to him and he knew that meant serious trouble if he refused anymore.

"For God sake why have you got that?" shadow burst out as he had finally had enough of the sun reflecting off the crystal and into his eyes. Rouges lips twisted into a smirk at seeing how easily breakable Shadow was at the moment.

"This, for your information honey, is the key to this whole mystery." Rouge winked seductively at him but he only groaned in annoyance.

"Now that you mention it, what did you say over the communicator that day?" shadow asked as he took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"What? Sorry I was not listening." Rouge quickly blurted out as she turned away from Knuckles that was down the street. Shadow palm smacked his forehead; his partner was so easily distracted.

"I sa-"

"Come in agent Rouge, I repeat come in agent Rouge." A male voice spoke over the communicator cutting Shadow off and Shadow thought he was going to explode.

"This is agent Rouge speaking, code number 12784, what's up?" Rouge clicked her side of the communicator on.

"New mission come in, it's looking after the beast. The last GUN soldier on beast duty was seriously injured."

"I'm on my way." She answered and added a kiss before shutting the communicator down.

She turned around to see Shadows expression of pure fury and decided to not say anything and just leave. Shadow watched as his partner flew off leaving him there alone in the street; the only thing that came from shadow was silent mutterings of curses as he returned to Sonics room. _Nothing makes sense, the communicator that day was so out of range that it lost signal and I could not make anything out and now she says that a pathetic crystal is the key to this mystery. What exactly is the mystery? _Shadows thoughts ran wild as he was now approaching Sonics room with its door now shut. Rising his hand to take the handle he contemplated on it for a minute, he was not sure how Sonic would react to him at the moment with him obviously knowing his condition. He hesitated before knocking instead. His hand barely touched the door when it opened revealing a very distressed looking Chuck.

"Can you talk to him? He won't say a word to me. It's almost as if he thinks it's the end of the world or something." Chuck asked desperately as he pointed at Sonic.

_That's because it probably does feel that way to sonic, he can't even move his legs let alone run, _Shadow thought as he mentally rolled his eyes at the doctor for not noticing who exactly was disabled here.

"I am counting on you, if he says he feels well then he is good to go." This was as all Chuck said before he left the doorway open for him to enter. Shadow entered the room with an emotionless expression as Chuck shut the door behind him.


	5. Sonic is brought home

**BIG WARNING: THIS IS QUITE A LONG CHAPTER. I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO BE THIS LONG.**

Sonic is brought home

Silence filled the room like a choking fog as Shadow sat down on the end of the bed, he felt Sonic shift under the covers to give him room. Shadow refused to look at Sonics tear covered face, So he just clasped his hands together and put them in his lap in front of him. Occasionally he felt Sonics eyes drift away to look at him, but when ever Shadow even attempted to look back he immediately looked down in silent misery.

"Faker." Shadow sighed, not being able to take the weight of the silence any longer. Sonic only gave him a brief look to show that he had heard before lowering his head again.

"How are you?" Shadow mentally smacked himself for saying such a question, of course he was not going to say `yeah I'm fine`, he just had his life taken away from him in seconds.

"You knew..." Sonic whispered. Shadow could barely hear the other.

"You knew, all this time you knew and you didn't tell me." Sonic could only just keep his sentences from breaking as he refused to cry in front of Shadow.

"faker, I only found out yester-"

"So." Sonic interrupted quietly as he raised his head to lock eyes with the other hedgehog.

Shadow did not know what to say since one small mistake with Sonic right now could be the end of him since it was obvious that Sonic was hurt deep down, even though he tried to hide it.

"Do you want to go home?" Shadow asked gently. Sonics eyes widened, he had never heard Shadow sound so gentle. It sounded almost...caring.

"The Doc told you to talk to me didn't he?" Sonic asked, Shadow caught a small glimpse of a smile but it vanished in an instant. Shadow merely nodded and waited for the others reply.

"Sounds good, but..." Sonic automatically looked at his legs under the sheets and his ears folded down in sadness. Shadow noticed this, but deep down he was so torn up inside that he couldn't bring himself to say `use the wheelchair`. Not to sonic right now.

"Tell me when you're ready...I will take you home." Shadow said before standing up and leaving a confused Sonic.

Sonic closed his eyes, _Shadow is acting kinda weird, _he thought.

Shadow had to leave; he could feel his face burning at what he had said. He passed the cafeteria and headed towards the main-entrance doors to open them to a scene that was nothing new. Rouge had drifted gracefully to the ground to land on none other than knuckles who was now struggling furiously beneath her.

"Well hey gorgeous." Rouge stood up and winked at the growing red knuckles.

"What do you think you're doing bat girl!" he shouted as his hand clenched into a fist and he growled menacingly.

"I, for your information am going into the hospital to have a pregnancy test."

"YOU WHAT!" Knuckles exploded and he glared daggers at shadow that had just joined them.

"YOU SON OF BI-" Knuckles couldn't finish his sentence since Shadow had knocked him hard on the head.

"You idiot she's not pregnant, see a joke when its staring at you in the face and if you ever think that way again Knuckles since I have a hunch on what you were thinking I will tie you to a lamp post and shoot your head open." Shadow snarled and continued walking past him.

Rouge shook her head and was just about to follow Shadow when Knuckles called.

"Well, what were you going to go in there for then?" Knuckles asked with his face still red with fury, he could sense that she was going to go in there to find Shadow but he wanted to make sure.

Rouge stood frozen to the spot, "You mean...you don't know."

Knuckles gave her a look that said `obviously not` before crossing his arms and giving an annoyed huff, Rouge was still frozen to spot, how on earth did knuckles not know.

"I will tell you later alright, see ya later honey." She winked at him making knuckles turn even redder before following her hedgehog partner. Before she even said a word Shadow spoke.

"You do realise what he was thinking?" Shadow had an angry edge to his voice as he suddenly turned round to face her.

"You know it was a joke, you said so yourself." She answered with a curious look on her face; she could sense the uneasiness in shadow.

"Besides," Shadow said as he turned round and continued walking, "You can just get a pregnancy test at a pharmacy."

Shadow heard Rouge laugh and felt a soft breeze as she decided to fly over his head and hover in front of him as he walked, he absolutely hated it when Rouge did this.

"Yeah, but knuckle-head don't know that. He is so gullible." Rouge shrugged her shoulders and landed so she could walk briskly along side him.

"You have done this to knuckles three times this week alone." Shadow gave her a sly smirk as she blushed with a tinge of pink.

"Well I can't help it if the redhead is attracted to me Shadow." She countered.

_More like the other way round Rouge,_ he thought as he shook his head in defeat, Rouge noticed this and gave a triumphant smile. It was always the same with her and Shadow.

The two continued walking together in silence, just silently enjoying the others company as they started walking along a bridge that crossed the vast waters of soleanna. Shadow wanted to take a break and leant his arms on top the stone railing to look at the shimmering water below, a cool summer breeze ruffled his spikes as the boiling sun shone down on him. Rouge was mesmerised by the scene before her, shadow looked spectacular. The sunlight reflected off his eyes in such a way that his eyes looked soft instead of their normal sharpness, in the light they were a stunning orange instead of red and had the look of deep thought. The breeze moving his spikes and Shadows calm expression made the scene beautifully serene. Shadow could feel Rouge staring at him but tried to ignore it.

"You're beautiful." She whispered in a daze as she followed suit and leant on the wall next to him.

"Hmm" Shadow replied, he was too deep in thought to notice that she had moved.

"I said you are beautiful." She said a little louder. At finally processing what she had said he sharply turned round with wide eyes to stare at her, Rouge just smiled and turned back to the glittering water below.

"Not in that way," She continued, not turning to face him, "when you have that look you are beautiful, the girl you choose is going to be one hell of a lucky one."

Shadow blinked at her before turning back to his reflection, _but I don't like girls._ Rouge had obviously sensed this for she stood up straight gawping at him.

"You're not." She said in surprise as shadow rubbed his brow in embarrassment.

"Yes...I am"

Suddenly the world made more sense to rouge, why shadow was so riled up about Sonic, why he wouldn't leave the hospital or do missions until he was out of hospital, why there had been a blush on Shadows face as he watched Sonic in the room with Amy and Cream. It was because he was gay.

"Is something wrong?" he asked as he looked at the shock in her eyes.

"No nothing at all. I am glad that you have found the one." She said with joy and tapped his shoulder to say that they had better get moving.

"This doesn't change anything between us does it?" he asked uncertainly, dreading that being gay would frighten off his first ever friend.

"Of course it doesn't." She replied with honest truth, taking his hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

"Besides, I have someone else in mind." she stated as she winked at him.

Shadow couldn't help but smile back at her as they made there way back to the hospital, Rouge was so understanding and even though she loved to get up to mischief with knuckles a lot, inside her heart was someone that cares.

"Come on lover boy; let us get you back to your poor sick blue boyfriend." Rouge shouted and Shadow immediately picked up his pace with red flushed cheeks. Why did Rouge have to be so open?

Somewhere hidden amongst the bushes a flash of a camera could be seen.

"You are all ready to go." Chuck said as he wheeled Sonic into the back of the ambulance, Shadow was sitting next to him on a small stool. He had told Rouge to go since she still didn't know about Sonics condition and she may accidently slip about him being gay, a risk he refused to take.

The doors were shut as they took off, the ambulance driving smoothly and rarely bumping about on the road. Sonic was still in a hollow state and shadow thought that he may never have that glow to him ever again. Sonic lifted his head at a sound in the distance; black clouds were now covering the sky and thunder rumbled faraway. The rain pounded on the windows of the ambulance with incredible force as lightning lit up the dark sky.

"Like a wolf lashing out its claws the lightning will slash the sky. The lightning is its claw; the thunder is its roar. As the wolf becomes more furious the storm becomes more treacherous." Shadow muttered with his eyes closed, he hadn't realised he had said it out loud.

"That was cool."

Shadows eyes shot open to look at Sonic.

"What?"

"What you just said, it was cool. I didn't know you were good with words Shadow." Sonic gave him the first proper smile Shadow had seen since the incident.

Shadow had a slight blush to his cheeks,_ did I really say that out loud, he probably thinks I'm weird now_, shadows mind screamed at him as he avoided Sonics eyes.

"Say some more."

Shadow almost fell of his stool in surprise at that, his face obviously showed he was astonished because Sonic gave a weak smile at him before looking at him expectantly.

"Maybe later Faker." Shadow snarled as the ice cold mental barriers of Shadows mind rose up. Sonic looked a bit shocked and his ears folded down as the smile once again disappeared to be replaced by misery. _Well done Shadow, now you've done it_, Shadow mentally palm smacked himself.

They quickly arrived at Sonics house on a main street, no one knew that sonic lived in such a local area so they never bothered to find out where he lived thinking it was in some sort of mansion somewhere since he was so famous. The ambulance parked carefully outside the door and Shadow stood up ready to grab Sonics wheelchair handles, the driver came out and unlocked the back doors and sorted out the ramp to help sonic get out. The rain poured down mercilessly on the uncovered Sonic who even though was not out there long was soaked through and shivering uncontrollably. Sonic hooked his hand in his spikes and opened his hand to show his house key to Shadow who quickly took it and unlocked the red painted door to Sonics home.

A couple of young lovers were coming down the street and Sonic looked alarmed as they started towards them, he gave Shadow an urgent look of distress as they got closer. Shadow noticed this and managed to unlock the door and push the wheelchair in, he then talked to the driver for a second before coming in and shutting the door.

It was very dark in the house so Sonic reached for the light switch, but because he was sat in the wheelchair he could not reach it all, Shadow's hand hovered over the switch before pressing it and switching it on for him. The lights suddenly came to life brightening up the room, the walls were cream and the sofas were white, a fire place was at the far end of the room near a glass table.

Sonic wheeled himself towards the sofa and tried to lift himself up onto it, but he could not do it properly and the wheelchair kept moving away from the pressure. Shadow rolled his eyes at sonic and hooked his arms under Sonics legs so he could lift himself onto the sofa. When he had finally got himself into a sitting position Shadow gently put Sonics legs down and grabbed a cushion to put under Sonics head.

Sonic had a strange look on his face, annoyance, anger, sadness, it was none. Shadow saw that Sonic was still shivering and without a word left the room and went upstairs. It did not take him long for him to find the bathroom and grab an emerald coloured towel from the wooden rack there.

_Sonic looks a bit odd, maybe it was what I said earlier, _Shadow thought with regret as he slowly came back down the wooden stairs fiddling with the soft towel. He stopped abruptly and pricked his ears; a muffled sound was coming from the living room, coming from Sonic. He ran the rest of the steps and burst into the living room. What he saw shocked him.

Sonic was sitting up on the sofa, tears steaming down his cheeks as he sobbed uncontrollably.

"Son-"

"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Sonic screamed as he vigorously wiped the tears from his face, but no matter how much he wiped they just kept coming. Shadow slowly yet cautiously walked towards him.

"I am pathetic; I can't even do a light switch anymore. I'M HELPLESS!" Sonic cried as he coughed from the strength of his sob. Shadow carefully sat down next to Sonic, he had that look in his eyes again as he watched Sonic break down before his very eyes.

"H-How can I stop Eggman like this. Everyone will laugh at me when they see what has happened to my body." He continued, the tears not seizing just getting heavier. Shadow could see that Sonic was letting it out, everything he had done in life was based on his speed, and now...

Shadow closed his eyes; he couldn't even begin to imagine what Sonic was going through. He dared speak to sonic as he continued to cry his heart out. He didn't want to interrupt what should be done, shadow saw that even in the hospital that Sonic struggled to contain his growing depression and now he was away from all the public he could let it out.

Sonic felt like the whole world had come to an end, he felt a huge hole inside him getting bigger and stronger making him cry harder, nothing could stop the growing depression deep inside him. He was alone, no one understood him.

"No one can find out, if they do they may never want to see me again knowing that I am not the same hedgehog I used to be." The tears dripped endlessly onto the sofa as he trembled with deep sorrow.

Shadow carefully put his hand on Sonics shoulder in a reassuring gesture but Sonic growled and shoved him away.

"NO! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME!" Sonic shouted uncontrollably. Shadow paused and slowly came closer to sonic before trying again. Sonics hands were in front of his eyes in an attempt to hide the weakness from shadow.

Shadow gently wrapped his arms around Sonics head and pulled him to his chest, Sonic went rigid for a second before nuzzling deep into Shadows fur in an attempt for comfort, in an attempt to get away from the misery.

"Sonic...listen to me." Shadow whispered into his ear as he rubbed Sonics back as he tried to comfort his once rival. Sonic snivelled as he tried to calm down but the feeling of sadness was too great.

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here. If I didn't want to know you I would have gone. If I wasn't your friend I would have walked away. But I am your friend, so I have stayed." Shadow played with his words like Sonic wanted him to in the ambulance and surely enough Sonic started to calm down just a little bit.

Without warning Sonic shot up and out of his arms with what looked like fear in his eyes, the force of the movement caused him to fall off the edge of the sofa with a loud thump on the floor.

Shadow immediately swept him up and put him back on the sofa, feeling that he was still damp he offered the green towel that was still in his hand to Sonic. Sonic hesitated, looking into Shadows eyes for something before taking it with gratitude.

"It looks like you are the fastest thing on Earth now Shadow...I certainly am not anymore." Sonic only just managed to get that out before falling into another fit of sobs.

"I know what you are going through." Shadow said as gently as he could, "I lost...Maria."

"THAT'S NOT THE SAME!" Sonic shouted again, "yes you lost her but you can still live, breathe...walk"

Shadow could feel anger rise within him, how dare Sonic talk about Maria like that. Maria was his soul, his best friend, his sister, she was everything to him.

"I STILL LOST SOMETHING I TREASURE DEAR!" Shadow shouted with rage as his eyes burned with fury, "I TREASURED MARIA LIKE YOU TREASURE YOUR LEGS! SHE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME!"

Shadow could not contain his emotions anymore; a single tear fell from his eyes as he blurted out,

"This is why I refuse to leave you; I can not lose someone I treasure so dearly again!"

**END OF CHAPTER**

**well there it is, I tried to make it as emotional as possible, but I think I failed miserably :) And what was that camera flash near the bridge, find out in the next chapter!**


	6. The mission

**HI thanks for all your reviews, i thought i did the emotional bits wrong but you guys seemed to like it. Some shockers happening in the next few chaps, enjoy :)**

The mission

Shadow awoke to find himself laying on the floor with his head leant against something soft and firm, when he tiredly swung his arms round to check he realised that he had slipped to the floor and was leaning against the sofa. He slowly opened his eyes to an unfamiliar cream coloured room and was just about to bolt to his feet in confusion when he finally understood where he was.

_I'm in Sonics house; I spent most of my time last night trying to calm him down from his sobbing fit that I must have stayed up all night, _Shadow thought as he lazily got onto his feet. Shadow rubbed his eyes in exhaustion and carefully settled down on the one seat-sofa opposite the one Sonic was lying on, his necked ached mercilessly from the position he had slept. His eyes shot open as he laid his eyes on an empty chair with only an indent of where Sonic had been in the soft cushions.

He needn't worry though since he could hear Sonic clanging about in the kitchen, obviously struggling with what ever he was trying to do since he kept cursing from frustration. Shadow could not help but give a small smirk as he got back up to head for the kitchen, no matter how many times Sonic failed to do something he just would not give up.

His smirk immediately turned into a look of utter shock. The entire kitchen was a wreck, endless bowls and spoons lay all over the floor, packets had their contents joining the cutlery on the table and the thing that was in the worst state of all, was Sonic. He was covered in head to toe with flour and was coughing his lungs out as the ripped bag continued to leak its white contents onto the floor.

Shadow just stood there dumb folded, _how can one hedgehog cause so much destruction_? He thought as his mouth still refused to work.

"Hi, finally awake I see."

Shadow snapped back to reality as he saw Sonic sitting in his wheel chair who had attempted to brush most of the flour off of his spikes but loads still remained on the blue hedgehog.

"You could have just waited for me, or even woken me up." Shadow finally said as he continued to examine the amount of mess.

"Well, I kept dropping my spoon and because of this blasted machine I can't pick them out of the draw properly and when I dropped them I couldn't reach them either." Sonic embarrassedly rubbed the back of his neck before going to the fridge to get the milk. Why did it seem that sonic was ignoring him.

"I could have helped." Shadow said again as he took a seat at the table, crossed his arms and watched Sonic. The entire time that Shadow had been in the kitchen Sonic had not given him eye contact at all. Sonic at the moment was struggling to get the milk out of its holder.

Shadow sighed before starting to get up to help but Sonic immediately stopped him before he had even left the seat.

"No, I will do it myself! I had no trouble doing it before; this condition is not going to change me!" Sonic shouted at him and tried to get the milk again. The look that Sonic had given him was a frozen look of anger, annoyance and determination and it kept Shadow in his seat.

Shadow growled at him before once again crossing his arms, _stubborn Faker!_ Shadow thought angrily as he just let him get on with it.

"You don't seem yourself." Sonic muttered as he for the third time tried to get the milk bottle, his fingers only just stroked across the smooth edge but he could not grab it.

Shadow attempted to get up to help him again but Sonic just gave him an ice cold glare, however this time Shadow chose to ignore him.

"I can do it myself!" Sonic practically screamed at him as Shadow easily came over and snatched the bottle from its holder; he then gave it to Sonic who still refused to look at him unless it was giving him cold glares.

"Look, if this is about last ni-"

"Last night never happened!" Sonic swerved his wheelchair round fast and gave shadow the coldest glare yet, cold enough to match Shadows glares. Shadow was taken aback by the force behind those words. Sonics' emerald eyes bore into Shadows as he glared horribly at him.

_Last night never happened, my weakness was never shown. I will not let this condition bring me down, not now, not ever! Shadow saw it and I refuse to let him look down on me because of it. The words he said last night were false words; he does not care what happens to me. In fact he is probably secretly jumping for joy knowing that he has me out of the way! _Sonic thought as the two remained in silence staring at one another.

Shadow was about to try and convince sonic that he could not be the same as he used to be anymore when a high pitch calling could be heard coming towards the house.

"AMY!" both Sonic and Shadow said in panic.

"What am I going to do!" Sonic said as he looked at himself in the wheelchair and also at the mess that was scattered around the kitchen.

Suddenly Shadow could hear the door being unlocked.

"YOU GAVE HER A KEY!" Shadow shouted in disbelief as Sonic shrugged his shoulders.

"She threatened me. She said she would drag me down the aisle in a black tux with me being tied with chains if I didn't." Sonic stated, giving Shadow another shrug. Shadow was about to retort but understanding Amy made him realise that she really would do just that.

"I have an idea, don't say a word."

"Wha-" but Sonic didn't have time to finish since Shadow hurried over and picked him out of his wheelchair bridal style.

"HEY! WHAT ARE-"

"Be quiet!" Shadow said sharply as he ran over and put Sonic in the chair he was sitting in. Shadow could hear the door knob turning. He had no time. Everything seemed to move in a blur as Amy entered the Kitchen.

"Hi Son-" Amy stopped dead in her tracks.

"WOW! This kitchen is spotless, talk about shiny."

Sonic was about to say what the hell she was talking about when he too realised the kitchen was spotless, the laminate floor sparkled and was so clean that Sonic could see his reflection in it, the sides were clean and all the mess of flour and cutlery had disappeared...along with Shadow.

"Been busy I see. This is what I like about you; you never let anything bring you down." Amy said dreamily as she went into another dazed state, Sonic rolled his eyes at her behind her back. _If only_ _you knew Amy...if only you knew, S_onic thought miserably.

"Well I was gonna ask if you would take me on a date, you know the offer I gave you at the hospital?" She asked with girly fluttery eyelids, sonic was unimpressed and was thinking that the fluttering eyelid technique was way too girly and sweet for his liking.

"But it seems you are still not well, you are red with a fever by the look of your cheeks. Or is it my presence that warms your heart so much that it makes you blush." Amy squealed at the prospect of Sonic starting to like her. Sonic gagged on her sweetness, he was not into all this mushy stuff. He was abruptly brought back to the world by Amy's hand being placed on his forehead.

"You do feel like you have a fever actually." She said as her eyes softened with concern. Sonic was trying to think back to what could have possibly been the cause of his flushed cheeks. It suddenly hit him.

"Oh my you're getting worse!" Amy cried as Sonic remembering what had caused him to blush made him go even redder.

"Well, I will see you later, go to bed and get some rest!" Amy demanded before turning around and leaving a very bewildered Sonic alone.

Suddenly a crash was heard in the closet right next to Sonic along with a familiar voice cursing. Sonic unintentionally smiled, Shadow had been in the closet the entire time in complete and utter silence and Sonic knew that that closet was very full. Without a doubt Shadow had a lot of trouble not making any noise in there.

It was when sonic was thinking this that the closet opened and Shadow stumbled out along with half the closet. Brooms, mops, brushes and a full black bin bag all fell to the floor around a very agitated Shadow that was glaring perilously at him with his burning red eyes.

"You owe me...big time, Faker." Shadow growled as he chucked the bin bag full of the mess that was in the kitchen outside the front door. Sonic tried to contain his sniggers but it was no use, the look on Shadows face was priceless. Shadow was changing, that was easy for Sonic to see, the Shadow he knew would have left him there for Amy to discover in a wheelchair, would have left the room a wreck and let him pay the price. But...he didn't.

Shadow came through and took out the folded up wheelchair that he had left in the closet and fixed it up, he then wheeled it over to Sonic who carefully sat himself back into it.

"Thanks." Sonic murmured and Shadow just huffed in reply. It was not one that would intentionally hurt, it was more like a `whatever` huff.

Shadow settled down in a seat and crossed his arms again; it was one of his tireless habits. He suddenly sensed something peculiar coming Sonic, he sensed a feeling that he had never felt coming from Sonic before and it felt akin to what he felt last night and when the incident happened, but he didn't know what to call it. _Would you call it...love_, Shadow thought to himself as he felt Sonic start to stare at him. There was a deafening, awkward silence that seemed to cut straight through their skulls, but neither made a move to speak. _Wait a minute! Sonic feeling love! _Shadows thoughts hit home as his eyes widened in shock, _so...he really does love Amy_.

"Do you like Amy?" the question just seemed to roll off his tongue with shadow not being able to control it what so ever, Sonic looked at Shadow surprised by the question and by the look on Shadows face so was Shadow.

"Well, I like her as friend but that's how far I will go." Sonic smirked and gave Shadow his signature thumbs up.

Shadow processed this for a second in his mind, _then who else could suddenly trigger this emotion in Sonic? S_hadow thought as he wracked his brain for all the females he could think of that Sonic would even be remotely attracted to.

"Why? do you like her?" Sonic sniggered

"What?" Shadow said quickly as Sonic awakened him from his thoughts.

"Do you like her? Amy I mean."

"HELL NO!" Shadow said firmly and tried to ignore the look Sonic was giving him, "I just wanted to know that's all, it does not mean I like her. I would rather die than start to have feelings for that over romantic hedgehog."

The rest of the day went by calmly and easily, meaning that there were no other unexpected visitors. The two once rivals spent most of the day arguing however with Sonic trying to get something and being stubborn by not letting Shadow help. It seemed to become a never ending cycle.

The Sun was peacefully setting beyond the watery horizon of Soleanna when the two decided to go to bed from exhaustion, Shadow said that he would get Sonic up the stairs and Sonic tried to avoid Shadow holding him bridal style. It triggered something off last time Shadow did it and Sonic was not ready to admit it just yet. So Shadow did something far worse, he slightly threw Sonic into the air and caught him on his back to carry him piggyback style. Sonics cheeks blushed madly and he desperately hid it from Shadow who luckily hadn't noticed. _I am not gay, I am not gay,_ Sonics thoughts repeated as if trying to convince himself it wasn't true, to convince him he hadn't fallen for Shadow. _If I am gay, why Shadow out of everyone else._

"You alright?" Shadows low voice echoed through Sonics ears as he paused at the door to Sonics room.

"Yeah." Sonic said too quickly and Shadow started to get suspicious.

He entered Sonics room which to his surprise was made of different shades of green; he expected Sonics room to be blue like him. He removed the cover and gently put Sonic down on the bed, replacing the sheet on top of him before silently leaving the room. Sonic was already falling asleep with one last thought entering his mind, _maybe I do have a thing for Shadow...but I won't admit it._ Shadow carefully shut the door behind him leaving Sonic in the darkness; he was working his way down the stairs when Rouge came on the communicator.

"Come in Shadow."

"What?" Shadow growled.

"Why do you have to be so touchy and in a bad mood when I call? Anyway I have a mission for you, but before I give it to you I have to explain things a little. On the day of Sonics accident I told you something over the communicator that obviously did not reach you in perfect condition. Well this is what it was `He is the link to the story`, that is what I said."

Shadow had made himself comfortable on Sonics sofa in the living room and was fiddling with his glove as he listened to Rouge.

"Who is the link to the story again?" Shadow said as he felt himself dosing off.

"SONIC!" Rouge shouted irritably, immediately waking Shadow up to an alert state. "This is your mission; we think that Sonic is the link to the story, the story of the strange beast that attacked Soleanna. We think that something in his past is related to it. Your mission is to learn his past."

**END OF CHAPTER**  
**Sorry i made a slight miscalculation, the reason for the camera flash in the last chapter will be in later chapters not this one. BUT IT IS RELEVANT SO DO REMEMBER.**


	7. Sonic tells his past

**HUGE NOTE: for this chapter i advise you look up `Sonic underground` if you don't know what's in it, i like my stories to be all the different games and shows put together to make a story. You don't have to though, you can just visualise the characters in this chap yourself EXCEPT THE MOTHER. HUGE WARNING: i sort of write and make it up as i go along, i did not expect for this to turn out like this, i had a nightmare like this last night so i put it into the story/ the warning is slight gore scene but don't be too alarmed, it isn't long.**

Sonic tells his past.

Shadow awoke with the sun streaming through cream coloured curtains, the lovely smell of a fresh morning filled him as he stretched and got the sleep out of his eyes. He had finally got a good night sleep and got up with out signs of being his normal, irritated self, he opened the curtains wide and looked out into the street. It was quite early with the sun just rising giving Soleanna a gorgeous warm glow that sparkled off the morning dew that covered the trees, the air was fresh and all was still, just the way Shadow liked his early mornings... although he wouldn't admit it to anyone.

"Shadow!" Sonic called, he sounded desperate.

Shadow moved away from the window and instantly spotted Sonics wheelchair still at the bottom of the stairs from last night. Already knowing what Sonic was calling for he grabbed the wheelchair, folded it up and carried it upstairs.

"Took ya long enough." Sonic snarled, Shadow had gathered that Sonic was not a morning person. Shadow stifled a smirk at the snarling hero laying on his front with his head buried in his pillow.

Shadow assembled the wheelchair, but did not put it by Sonics bed. Instead he left it by the door and came and sat down next to Sonic who felt the weight shift to one side. Sonic looked up into Shadows eyes, for some reason his red eyes looked warm this morning.

"I need to ask you something." Shadow whispered with his face now expressionless as he looked away. Sonics ears pricked to show that he was listening.

"Last night...I got a call from Rouge." Shadow started, his eyes closed and he crossed his arms. "She said that this beast that attacked the city and attacked you is related to you and your past. Can you tell me about your past?"

"Related? But I have never seen that wolfish beast before." Sonic answered stunned.

"Well...Can you tell me your past?" Shadow asked again, opening one eye to look at him with his ruby eye. Those rubies always felt so powerful to Sonic and they captivated him.

Sonic leant his chin on his pillow and his ears folded down, like Shadow he also had a dark and upsetting past. Shadow sensed the sudden change in Sonics mood and started to feel uneasy, maybe now was not the right time to ask, maybe he should wait until he gets used to being disabled first. Although, Shadow thought that Sonic would never get used to it.

"If I do," Sonic began. "You can't tell anyone." He looked at Shadow for agreement which he gave by giving a simple nod of understanding. There was a peaceful silence in the room with only the sounds of the birds chirping their morning song, Shadow waited patiently for Sonic to start.

Sonic suddenly lifted his hand up into his spikes and moved it around as if searching for something. When he removed his hand and opened the clenched fist it revealed a very small, well crafted key no bigger than his little finger. He gave it to Shadow and pointed at the small set of drawers beside his bed, it had three drawers and the one Sonic was pointing at was the one closet to the floor.

Shadow took the key and examined its craftsmanship; it was a very beautiful silver key with the twisted, thin bits of silver metal at the top making an `s` shape. He bent down on one knee and placed it in the key hole. Twisting it to right made a satisfying click as it unlocked the drawer.

"I haven't been in this draw for years...it is...my memory drawer." Sonic was resting his fall head on his pillow now, watching Shadow unlock the drawer with half lidded, sleepy eyes.

Shadow caught the slight sound of emotional pain in Sonics voice, almost as if mentioning the drawer hurt him from within. He slowly opened it to find loads of opened letters still in their envelopes, what caught his eye the most though was a medium sized box that took up most of the drawer.

"Take the box first." Sonic instructed, with a slightly sad tone intermingled with his voice.

Shadow did so and placed it beside Sonic on the bed not wanting to open something that was obviously precious. Sonic attempted to turn onto his back and sit but was finding it difficult since he couldn't move his legs. Shadow noticed this and carefully turned Sonic over and then helped him to sit up with his back against the soft headboard.

Sonic stretched his arm out towards the box; he hesitated as if he just didn't want to touch it. Carefully Shadow picked up the dark oak box and placed it on Sonics lap which was still covered by his bed sheets. The box was varnished and had swirl engravings on the lid that also had a key lock; it was a little heavy to carry and was quite a well made box, probably from a rich person. Sonic asked for the key Shadow had which he gave. Sonic put the key in the lock. This time he turned the key left.

"Why is it the same key?" Shadow asked with a look of confusion plastered on his face.

"My...my mother...designed it; she loved to have things related. She designed my set of drawers and this box at the same time; therefore she used the same key. You just turn it a different way in order to get it to unlock. My...mother...had a strange way of doing things."

"Could you explain it more?" Shadow asked. Anything could be useful for unravelling this mystery that Rouge keeps talking about.

Sonic hesitated; it was obviously very hard for him to talk about his family.

"My mother did things by dates by which day they were designed. This key," Sonic said as he held it up in the light from the rising sun for Shadow to see, "has a small date engraved on the side, so small it's almost unnoticeable." He gave Shadow the key to examine.

"The same date is engraved on the drawers and also this box, the date of the key shows that it opens them. Because she designed and had them made at the same time she decided to make one key that would unlock both of them, but both locks move different ways. One must be turned right, whilst the other must be turned left." Sonic explained. "Do you understand?"

Shadow nodded and waited for him to continue. Sonic looked down at the unlocked but still closed box, his ears folded down again as if he was afraid to look at its contents. Shadow reached his hand out but Sonic batted it away quickly and his ears folded back in an intimidating way, his eyes narrowed and his mouth turned into a snarl that showed his fangs, Shadow had never seen Sonic put his ears back before in a threatening warning. Shadow obeyed and put his hand down; this box was obviously very precious and important for Sonic to give off a warning like that.

Sonics ears rose back to normal as he put his hand on the lid, there was silence through out the room once more. He took a deep, shaky breath and slowly lifted the lid.

As soon as he opened the box it started making music, it was a music box. Sonic seemed to freeze. Shadow could see that Sonics eyes were hollow, _hearing it must be triggering off a memory in his mind, _Shadow thought as he continued to wait. He didn't want to push Sonic.

Shadow saw Sonic rummaging through with his eyes welling with tears; he stopped when he had found something and took it out. He shut the lid not being able to take the twinkling tune any longer. He refused to cry in front of shadow so he held firm, he was not going to show weakness again. From Shadows angle it seemed that what Sonic was holding was a small photo frame.

Sonic and Shadow locked eyes at that moment, it felt as if sonic was searching his mind, searching his very soul to find trust. Sonic hesitated but slowly held out the frame towards him.

Taking the frame carefully he looked at the picture, his eyes widened at what he saw. In the picture there was Sonic with his thumb up, however there were three others, two looked about the same age as Sonic in that time and then there was a beautiful purple hedgehog with the most beautiful violet hair and emerald green eyes Shadow had ever seen.

"That's...my..." Sonic was struggling to talk since he was holding his tears back with everything he had. "My family, my brother, my sister and the one you are looking at is...my mother."

"That's your mum?" Shadow said surprised, he had to admit he had a lovely looking mother_, I see where he got his emerald eyes from, his mother._

"They are called Sonia and Manic, I and they were triplets with me being the first born and Manic being the last. My mother was called qu- Aleena." Sonic said looking away at almost making a slip up. Shadow noticed this and felt that Sonic was not telling him everything even though he had only just started.

"Where are they now?" Shadow asked trying to get eye contact with Sonic again, but he would not turn.

"They...they were...murdered." Sonics voice broke as he could feel the tears stinging his eyes begging him to let them loose.

**/FLASH BACK/**

"**Sonic, can you go to the shop to get some milk?" **

"**Alright dad." Replied an eight year old Sonic that had just grabbed the money and was now heading towards the door.**

"**Come back soon honey." His mother was standing at the top of stairs waving kindly to him; the stairs had a soft red carpet over the top.**

"**Be back soon bro, I want us to do some rocking on our instruments." Manic poked his head around a corner pointing at Sonic with his drum sticks.**

"**Gees I am only going to get milk, I'm not going on vacation or something." Sonic laughed as he shut the door.**

"Sonic?" Shadow asked gently, seeing Sonic put his hands to his face. He started to tremble as he tried with all his pride and will to hold the tears back; he refused Shadow to see him like that again. It was too late though, the hot tears streamed down his face like it did two nights ago and he started to weep into his hands.

"I-I can g-go on." Sonic managed to get out as he wiped his eyes and looked away from Shadow. Sonic had been telling Shadow all about what happened whilst he remembered it...every detail.

"**So that's 10 rings please young man." The shop keeper cheerfully stated as sonic gave over the exact amount of rings.**

"**Thanks. See ya later." Sonic smiled as he left the corner shop.**

**Sonic suddenly stopped, something was wrong. The place was deserted. Everyone had disappeared. The chilling wind caused shivers down his spine as the birds remained completely silent. Something was wrong, really wrong. It was dark from the night approaching. The skies were filled with black clouds as rain started to fall. When he looked up at the sky it had a strange glow, an orange glow. A smell filled his senses...the smell of fresh blood.**

"I-I started to panic, I was only eight and everything was so empty, s-so cold." Sonic stuttered out as he relived his worst horror through his memory to Shadow. Every single small detail, what he saw, what he heard, what he smelt, it all contributed to his sorrow.

"I started to run for all I was worth."

**The tree branches whacked Sonics face making a clean, bleeding cut but he didn't care. He ran, faster than he had ever run before. He was taking a short cut through a birch tree forest as he tried to escape the unknown danger. No matter where he ran it was silent. No matter where he looked he was alone. No matter where he went the smell of blood seemed stronger than ever before.**

"**MUM! MUM WHERE ARE YOU!" Sonic screamed from the top of his lungs. He was petrified. What ever was out there was coming to get him as it got louder and louder. That loud noise which deafens you no matter where you turn. That loud noise...of your own heart pounding. **

"**MUM-" Sonic froze as the tears came like endless waterfalls down his face. There in front him...his home was ablaze in furious flames. Timber fell from the roof. The windows broke with the pure force of the flames itself. Fire fighters surrounded it spraying for all they were worth.**

"**MUM!" Sonic shouted as he ran for the burning door, but the fire fighters stopped him.**

"**You can't go in there it's too dangerous!" They tried to restrain him by locking his arms behind his back. He was powerless watching the flames consume his home. **

"**WHERES MY MUM? WHERES MY FAMILY?" Sonic shouted as he pulled and pulled at what felt like thousands of hands that held him firm. All was silent as if they were all reluctant to tell.**

**He had no choice; he bit one of their shoulders. The fire fighter cowered away in pain as he let go. The removing of a pair of hands made the restraint too weak and he managed to break free from their grasp. **

"W-what I saw i-it w-was-" Sonic hadn't realised that in telling his memory, even though he tried to hold back the tears to save his pride and dignity that he was balling his eyes out so hard his chest hurt. The bed covers were damp from the tears he was shedding as he cried his whole past onto them. Another thing Sonic had not realised from being so deep in his memory was that, somehow, Shadow had found his way up the bed and had placed Sonic onto his lap without Sonic even noticing. He was too miserable to care.

"W-what I saw...was s-so h-horrible."

**The burning doors burst open. Orange light, blinding light everywhere he looked. The flames had taken the carpets, the curtains anything material was enveloped in the engulfing flames. **

"**MUM!" He called in desperate need. No answer came, just the crackling of the embers. He ran up the stairs. Suddenly the roof gave way above him. A large timber support beam plummeted towards him. He scrambled up the stairs faster just missing the burning wood.**

"**MUM PLEASE ANSWER ME!" He pleaded as he turned the corner from where Manic had last looked around. He ran down the corridors. His legs ached from the running; they burned from the pain, burned hotter than any flame. The thing that hurt the most though was his heart. It pounded in his chest louder than any of his brothers' drum. What if they didn't make it? What if he had to live knowing he was safe whilst the others burned?**

**More burning walls collapsed. Half the house was going down and it could take him with it. What he saw was frightening, so disgusting that it etched itself in his minds eye forever.**

**His family lay on the floor...slaughtered. Slaughtered like animals. Sonia was lying on the floor, her heart pierced with a razor knife. Manic had been shot through his head that even now still leaked his blood. But the thing that scared the last of his sanity away was, that even through the bright orange glow of the deadly flames his mother was a shadow against the wall. Sonic felt like he was going to be sick as he fell to floor and gagged on the sight. His mother...was pinned by her wrists and her ankles against the wall with a huge hole in her chest where her heart had once been.**

**Here his family lay...murdered.**

"I-I C-CAN'T GO ON!" Sonic cried as he snuggled into Shadows white fur, the tears came even harder at rekindling the memory of his mothers' body. Shadow felt that his chest was soaking wet from tears but he did not dare move, he was completely frozen to the spot from what Sonic had told him. The way Sonic explained it was as if it had only happened yesterday when in fact it happened six years ago. The horrifying details that Sonic could explain after this amount of time was heart breaking. Even with Maria he could not remember the smell of her blood, he couldn't remember seeing the blood either. All he could remember was the loud gun shot and Maria screaming her last scream.

"You may have lost Maria, but...AT LEAST YOU DIDN'T LOSE AN ENTIRE FAMILY!" Sonic screamed as he concentrated on turning his sorrow into fury and rage. Shadow could see this and just embraced him tighter.

"Why do you hold me?" he continued. "You don't even like me, you are the fastest thing on the earth now Shadow why waste your time with me?"

Shadow closed his eyes, _I do like you Sonic, for Gods sake I love you. Only God knows I do._

**_END OF CHAPTER  
This was my first attempt at adding a flash back, i have never in my life done this before so don't hate me if it is not as good as it could have been, tried to add a little bit of emotion, hope you liked it. Not forgeting that there is a mystery involved so try to remember as much of this chapter as possible for later :)_**


	8. The mystery begins

**I am so sorry it took a while, i had a serious case of writers block. Hopefully the chapters will come in smoothly now. please review and enjoy:)**

The mystery begins

"Is there anything you are forgetting?" Shadow asked sternly, he had moved away from Sonic since he had felt uncomfortable when he had stopped crying and had full awareness of himself again.

"Yeah, there is something," Sonic started, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember. "They think my father committed the crime. My father's body was not there, meaning he had not been killed. The police immediately suspected that my father had committed the crime...but there is one thing that does not make sense. If my father did do it, why did he spare me? He wanted me to go to the shops and whilst I went the crime was made, doesn't that seem odd to you?"

Shadow quirked an eyebrow at this and carefully lay back so that his back was on Sonics bed, his thoughts were exploding with all the information that Sonic had given him, his past was a mystery in itself.

_You need to tell him_, Shadow thought as he raised his head to make eye contact with Sonic,_ you need to tell him you love him!_ Shadow tried to shake the thought from his head, now was not the right time. Even though he thought this Shadows body had a mind of its own as he sat back up. _Tell him, it is not that hard. Tell him you love him. _Shadow desperately tried to push the thoughts away but they just kept coming back stronger, Sonic could see something was wrong.

"Sonic," Shadow began, strangely feeling nervous deep down, what if Sonic rejected him?

_Tell him, say it! I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU! God damn say it! _Shadows thoughts screamed at him as he felt himself hesitate.

"Sonic...I," He stopped, for some reason he felt a strong pull deep inside him twisting his stomach as his nerves took over. However he did well in not showing his distress.

"Yes?" Sonic asked as he gave Shadow an odd expression.

"Sonic...I...I-"

"Come in Shadow!" Rouge came over the communicator. Shadow released a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. One part of him was in relief, the other was screaming furiously at Rouge for interrupting him when he had finally been able to say it.

Shadow quickly stood up stopping Sonic from questioning him as he left the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

"WHAT!" Shadow screamed through the communicator almost deafening Rouge on the other end.

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO TOUCHY!" Rouge screamed back causing Shadow to put his hands to his ears in pain, he knew he deserved that.

"Sorry, you caught me at a bad moment!" Shadow snarled as he started to make his way down the stairs to head for the kitchen.

"Ohhhhh, were we having fun with Son-" But before Rouge could finish Shadow roughly pushed the off button on his end cutting off the communication line. He was not in the mood for Rouges teasing.

Shadow went over to the fridge and got some orange juice to put into a glass, through his frustration he didn't realise that he had practically slammed the fridge door shut making the whole house vibrate. Sonic could also feel it and was cringing up stairs.

"Shadow I'm sorry, you know you love me, please talk to me." Rouge whined sadly over the line, trying to sound as upset as possible. Shadow hesitated, before growling and pushing the button again.

"Thanks, have you found anything interesting about Sonics past?" Rouge asked, her voice sounding strangely tired.

"I have, however I also have made a promise to not tell anyone about it." Shadow replied as he swished the orange juice around in his glass. "And you know that I am strong about my promises."

"Fine, fine," a large yawn interrupted Rouge before she could finish. "Get back to the GUN headquarters so you can do whatever." With that the communicator shut off. Shadow raised an eyebrow at how exhausted his companion sounded before finally taking a long swig of his juice.

At the GUN laboratory someone drop their head onto the table in despair.

"Why can't I find anything?" Rouge screamed in frustration as she pulled at her long bat ears.

All night she had been up studying the crystal that she had found at the place where the strange creature had appeared, the very same crystal that Shadow had seen at the hospital and at the bridge. The crystal was now placed in a metal holder with wires linking it to the computer system. The same crystal that she had said was `the key to the whole mystery`, if only she felt so confident about it now.

In irritation she prodded the jewel. Not a single thing had come up in the experiments that had taken place.

"You need a break." Rouge turned round to see the owner of the voice was none other than Tails.

Tails had been working as the GUN technical expert, his expertise in mechanics and engineering was incredibly useful for GUN. He helped with experiments and even helped to develop different types of weapons...including the electrifying net machine that had put Sonic in hospital.

"Trust me; I am more likely to find something than you. No offense." Tails said shyly as he frantically waved his arms about to make sure she did not get the wrong idea.

Rouge only gave him a soft glare, the fox was very easily upset and his confidence was easily broken. Sonic was the only one that kept his spirits high and when he found out that his machine had put Sonic in hospital he was even more fragile than normal. So fragile that he was too afraid to visit his blue friend at the hospital.

"Well all I know, from my jewel expertise, is that this is a pure sapphire and worth a lot of money. And it would make a brilliant necklace with matching earrings." Rouges eyes sparkled at the crystal in front of her; Tails laughed and rolled his eyes at the jewel loving bat.

"You know you can't have it, it is a major clue." Tails grinned at her as she held the temptation to just snatch and run with it here and now.

"Well what if it's not a clue? If it's not then COME TO MAMMA!" Rouge shouted seductively as she thrust her hand out for the crystal. But Tails managed to grab it and get it out of her reach, tearing the wires off of it in the process.

"Hey, give me back my baby!" Rouge pouted, knowing that it was futile.

"Well what if it _is_ a clue." Tails only laughed as he played Rouges game. Rouge hung her head in defeat and stood up from her metal chair to go get some rest, Tails saluting her with a friendly wave before putting the crystal back in its holder.

It was dark in the laboratory with many flashing lights and computer screens lighting up some parts with their blue glow, the sound of beeping machinery was all that could be heard. It smelt strongly of oil from Tails last round of oiling his new inventions and the room was strangely cold even though it was filled with machines.

His two tails flicked unconsciously as he sat himself down where Rouge had sat, his blue eyes scanned the crystal with one last look before he delicately started placing the wires back on it. Suddenly something hit him.

"Even though it's a strange thing to do my calculations indicate that maybe this is not an average crystal." Tails began as his tails started swaying unintentionally from excitement as he brain stormed. "Maybe it will work...no not maybe, I'm positive it will show something!"

As quickly as he had put the wires back on he took them off again and ran to a cabinet filled with his equipment, his tails were moving wildly as he rummaged through his stuff. He chucked what he didn't want behind him making anyone that saw him compare him to a child looking through a toy box for a toy he wanted. This would remind anyone that saw him that Tails was just purely an eight year old child.

"Hah! There you are." Tails said in victory as he took out some very peculiar red wires, going back to the table to safely connect them to the crystal and also to a monitor.

As he connected them with sticky pads to the crystals shiny surface he only just started to realise the true beauty of the crystal. The crystal was indeed a sapphire, a very light blue sapphire that was transparent. It was not very tidy like a cut gem, it looked raw as if it had only just come out of the ground, but Tails knew that this was not true since it was shiny as if it had been polished by a professional. It was quite thick and long with no sign of it being cut into a particular shape; its sides were irregular meaning that no cut was the same. It was very unlike a chaos emerald that was perfect, but it seemed to have the same glow and beauty about it as one.

Tails had to use all of his strength to pull himself away from the crystal and stop admiring it. He went over to the monitor and turned it on. Immediately a strange beeping sound filled the room.

"Wow, this is...intriguing."


	9. The reporter and her assistant

The reporter and her assistant

A female angrily slammed her fist onto the table as she stood up from her leather seat causing her partner sitting in the corner to jump unintentionally, the desk shook from the force.

"This is infuriating!" She shouted as she pushed her red spectacles further up her nose and crossed her arms.

"Why has he not shown himself? Why has this beast attacked Soleanna? Why am I sitting here with no juicy news?" She continued her rant as she stomped over to the large window behind her.

"Why haven't you got a better job?" her partner asked cockily and quickly ducked to avoid an unidentified flying plate that smashed on the orange wall behind him.

"THIS IS NO JOKE!" She screamed as her topaz coloured eyes glared holes into her companion. "I am a reporter; I must tell the world what is happening to save them from chaos."

"Well, in your state of mind you're going to make the room chaos." He remarked and this earned him a flying bowl this time. However, for some reason the bowl hovered in the air in front of him before crashing to floor.

This mysterious movement caused the female to glare daggers at her partner who just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. To avoid more stress on her the male sat back down with a sigh in his wooden chair and brought out his camera, he admired it lovingly as he took a cloth from a cupboard and started polishing the lens.

"Do you only care for that damn camera?" the female asked calmly, although there was a hint of disappointment in her voice that her companion did not pick up, she was starting to settle down a little as she squeezed the bridge of her nose to stop an oncoming headache.

"This gets you your pictures for the front page, I wouldn't be complaining." The other replied with a `matter of fact` tone before continuing to polish.

"I did get some juicy news about Shadow at the main bridge of Soleanna." The male smiled evilly, knowing that his companion would go ballistic for not telling her sooner.

She stopped breathing as she processed this information, frozen to the spot as she looked down upon the City of Soleanna form her top floor office window.

"Is it related to Sonic the hedgehog?" She asked simply, not turning around.

"Yes, but I think we need to look into it more to make it confirmed and maybe we will find some other...interesting stories on the way." The male smirked knowing that he was hitting all of his boss's sensitive spots. She loved to investigate, loved to get involved and loved to sniff out stories; this was an offer she could not refuse. She turned around suddenly, her tail swishing as she made eye contact with her companion that had the same yellow eyes as her.

"Fine, we set out at noon. I will find what's happened to Sonic the hedgehog if it's the last front page I do!"

**END OF CHAPTER**

**Well we now know where the flash came from and oh dear two very unwanted people are getting involved, guess what their names are in a review:) Things start getting messy from here on out and the mystery starts to become more strange and dangerous than they first imagined. FIND OUT IN NEXT CHAPTERS!**


	10. A trip for the worst

**Sorry, this is really long, please tell me if you like this chapter since i am not too sure it came out so well. i have caught a cold and can not really think straight but i needed to get this down before I forgot the ideas :) ENJOY:)**

A trip for the worst

"YOU'RE GONNA WHAT!" Sonic shouted at Shadow who was leaning against the doorframe of his room giving a look of complete and utter disinterest.

"I am going to get you out for a while, you need fresh air." Shadow stated calmly as he unfolded Sonics wheel chair and pushed it towards Sonic still sitting in his bed. It had been three days since Sonic had told his past and he refused to leave the house.

"Just open the windows." Sonic said desperately as he glared at his wheelchair. "Besides I need to eat breakfast first."

"That's what we are going out for." Shadow sighed as he crossed his arms impatiently; he had quite a short fuse today.

"Can't I eat here?" Sonic asked stubbornly, knowing deep down it did not matter since Shadow had complete control of where he went when he was in the wheelchair.

"Why are you being so down right stubborn Faker?" Shadow growled as he left the doorframe and came towards him, Sonic looking somewhat petrified.

"Because no one can see me like this. The public will laugh at me!" Sonic continued to argue as he crossed his arms in rebellion. "I don't want to be humiliated!"

Shadow rolled his eyes before grabbing Sonic and forcing him into his wheelchair, Sonic struggled with his arms relentlessly as Shadow managed to get him seated. Shadow was trying to be patient but was finding it incredibly difficult with all the stress he was going through this morning.

"Alright, what will make you more inclined to go Faker?" Shadow asked with a little more force behind his words than he intended. Sonic was silent for a moment before answering.

"If people could not see who I was." He said plainly as Shadow stood still for second as he tried to think of something.

"Well, that is going to be very difficult. How many blue hedgehogs with green eyes, skin coloured arms, six long curved down spikes and red shoes do you know?" Shadow rolled his eyes at Sonics idea thinking it was impossible.

"Not if I covered my entire body with clothing." Sonic gave his signature cocky smile.

"Just go into my wardrobe over there and throw every bit of clothing you see onto the bed. I will pick." Sonic instructed.

Shadow was not in the mood to continue arguing so just did as he was told and opened the wooden wardrobe. After chucking everything onto the bed, including hats, scarves, T-shirts, trousers, jeans and jackets he sat himself down onto the bed and waited.

Since it was summer Sonic put a red cap on, however he did it in an unusual way. Sonic held his spikes so that they were folded on top of each other above his head before placing the cap down, the cap held his spikes underneath successfully hiding them from prying eyes. He then put a jacket on, deciding against putting a T-shirt on. Doing the zip up caused the jacket to hide his body.

"Can you...help?" Sonic asked feeling a little embarrassed. Shadow turned around and saw that nothing was on Sonics bottom half since he was having trouble putting his jeans on, being disabled was a lot harder than it looked. Shadow tried to hold it back but it was no use, his cheeks flushed bright red as he suddenly turned away and tried to compose himself. Reluctantly he stood up and headed towards Sonic with still a little bit of pink tingeing his cheeks. Sonic fortunately did not notice. Shadow helped pull the pair of blue jeans up; he stopped as he looked at Sonics feet.

"What shoes will you wear? As I said before you can't wear your normal attire."

Sonic seemed to ignore him as he threw a pair of black sneakers at him, Shadows quick reflexes helped him to catch them with out a lot of effort. Shadow gave an irritated sigh as he kneeled on one knee to put them on Sonics feet and tied the laces.

"That's too loose." Sonic said with a smug smirk as he crossed his arms. Shadow felt his blood boil as he undid them and pulled.

"Oww! That's too tight man!" Sonic squirmed as he felt the blood stop going to his foot, the smirk quickly disappearing from his face. Shadow gave a small evil laugh at Sonics struggling before releasing the tightly pulled laces.

"Hey that was not cool! Just because I can't feel my legs well enough to use em does not mean they don't get any blood!" Sonic huffed as he looked away from Shadow and considering what he was wearing he looked like a right idiot. "Get me my shades."

Shadow held in a laugh at just how ridiculous the blue hero looked as he got up from his kneeling position on the floor to head over to a small metal desk and grab the green pair of shades. He twisted them in his hands as he walked back over and handed them to Sonic before starting to push the wheelchair out of the bedroom door.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sonic asked quietly, nervousness evident in his voice as Shadow carried the wheelchair with him in it down the stairs with incredible ease. Shadow just ignored him.

As they reached the bottom Shadow carefully put the wheelchair on the floor before opening the front door. Shadow could feel fear and nervousness reeking from Sonic as he led him outside and could even feel him stiffen up as he became rigid with every passer by that stared at him. People were whispering behind their backs and Shadow could hear their every word as they started to feel suspicious and odd about the strange guy in the wheelchair.

"Speed up." Sonic whispered, almost inaudible to even Shadow as he picked up the pace and turned right into the next street. Sonic kept clenching his fists on the arm rests as he started to feel very uneasy. What if they found out?

Everyone was bustling about doing their jobs and daily chores, bakers ran around in the bakeries cooking fine bread and cakes, the florists worker was running about putting fresh stacks of flowers outside the store and in general the whole street was filled with people. The sound of calling male builders could be heard as they did an extension on the book store and the smell of the bakery was very enticing to Sonic who seemed to cheer up a little at the smell of food. Shadow acknowledged this as he turned into everyone's favourite and most common fast-food restaurant in Soleanna, McDonalds.

Sonic suddenly tensed in his seat again as Shadow pushed him towards the only free table there, every other seat and table had already been taken and the whole place was filled with gossiping people and laughing children as they waited for their meals. Sonic did not like this, not one bit.

He suddenly felt Shadows presence disappear behind him and felt a strike of Panic as he heard Shadow move away to the counter to order. It felt like everyone was watching him; everyone was staring at him waiting to see who he was. Everyone was looking at him with curious gazes, everyone was watching...waiting.

Sonic could feel his palms start to sweat and a single bead of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"Stop stressing." Shadow said calmly as he patted Sonics hat covered head making him jump ten feet in the air. Little did they know that a young woman was sitting at the back with a notepad in hand and wearing red spectacles. Her tail swishing as she waited for her male partner to meet her there.

"I got you just the single muffin, if you are still hungry I will get something else afterwards." Shadow said as he sat down on the seat opposite Sonics wheelchair and crossed his arms as he gave a sigh. Shadow felt everything coming from Sonic as he left, the feeling of pure panic wracking his body at the feeling of being left there alone as his fear built up. He was starting to think that Sonic being disabled had mentally affected him as well as physically and emotionally.

_You need to cheer him up; he needs something good to happen to him. Say you love him_, Shadow almost in real life smacked his head as the thoughts came back like they did three days ago._ No! I won't say it here, not in front of all these humans, _Shadow mentally argued with himself as his mind started to have a full blown argument. _But saying it here in front of everyone would show that you really do care_, Shadows thoughts contradicted him again as in the real world Shadow tried to suppress a growl, _Say you love him!_

Sonic blinked at Shadow as he saw that strange look he had had three days ago when he had tried to tell him something, _I swear he was going to say...no, he does not like me that way does he?_ Sonics thoughts ran wild as he tried to come up with a solution for Shadows strange behaviour. _Maybe I should tell him I love him too,_ Sonic mentally asked himself as a small blush plastered his face in real life. _I mean it is true, I do like him more than a friend...but if he was not trying to say I love you, I would make a fool of myself and I don't think I could take the rejection, _Sonic thought bitterly as he bowed his head to stop Shadow from seeing his growing blush. Little did he know that Shadow was having the same internal turmoil about the other as he was.

_All I have to say is..._Sonic thought as nerves bit at him again for another reason.

_All I have to say is..._Shadow was also thinking.

_I love you,_ both thought at the same time. A single shiver fell down both of their spines as their thoughts fell on the same wavelength, if only they knew that the opposite was having the same trouble.

"Sonic...I lo-"

"Hey you shouldn't wear hats indoors!" a little snot nosed brat interrupted rudely as she thrust her hand up and managed to grab Sonics hat.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the hat was pulled away. His sunglasses fell onto the table as the hat was torn away. A single gasp escaped Sonics lips. His spikes were released. The girl stopped and dropped the hat with a shocked gasp.

"Y-you're..." The girl started to tremble; the whole ruckus had brought the attention of the young woman with red spectacles in the corner. Suddenly everyone in the room stood up and hurried towards Sonic. Sonic looking completely petrified as they surrounded him. Suddenly every single person in room started falling into fits of laughter.

"Oh my God. Sonic the hedgehog, the fastest thing on Earth...IN A WHEELCHAIR." A woman broke apart as she went hysterical with everyone else following suit.

"What's he going to do, run Eggman over?" A man added as he too couldn't stop laughing.

Everyone spilt their drinks as they laughed at what was their hero. Sonic felt something twist deep in his stomach as he bowed his head.

"Sonic?" Shadow asked gently as he put his hand out to comfort him. But he stopped when he saw several unstopping tears fall from Sonics hidden eyes. Sonics body began to shake as he tried to hide his tears form the public. The reporter stood up at hearing the unbelievable comments and wrote them down furiously as she tried to barge through the crowd.

"YOU PATHETIC UNCARING SCUM!"

Everyone stopped laughing immediately and froze as Shadow shouted at them, giving them his most deadly and most hate filled glare he could muster. His hand slammed down onto the table with horrible force as his rage could not be contained by just words alone.

"You pathetic fools! You think this is funny?" Shadows eyes blazed with flames of fury as he pointed at the trembling crowd.

"This is your hero, the hero you so awfully treat! Do you not realise what he has been through? Do you not realise how much his condition is affecting him without you contributing to it!" Shadow seemed to overload as the anger became too much making his fists clench and tremble at his sides.

"This is the same guy that has saved you on numerous occasions! And even though he is now lacking what he had,..." Shadow said this as he turned around to look into Sonics wet eyes that were now staring at him. "...he is still the same person we all should respect deep down."

Sonic thought he had stopped breathing, the gentleness coming from Shadows ruby eyes as he said that directly to him made him feel ecstatic. A strange fizzing sensation bloomed in his chest; he had never felt this warm sensation for anyone else apart from Shadow.

The reporter was scribbling madly on her notepad almost breaking her pen from being so vigorous, her long tail swayed wildly from excitement from catching such good stuff. She was unable to get through the thick crowd hanging around her subject and she couldn't look over them since she was not as tall as a human, but she could use her amazing hearing skills to get the news. Her ears twitched at everything Shadow said and she was just about to put `he is still the same person we all should respect deep down` when suddenly everyone started cheering at Shadows words and one man stepped backwards knocking the reporter forward. The hard knock made her practically throw her notepad.

"NO!" She screamed in horror as her juicy statements fell onto a glass of orange juice causing it to spill, it soaked right through her note pad and the ink ran into the juice giving it a purplish tinge. She had lost the evidence.

"Chaos control!"

The reporter turned round quickly to see a bright flash over the crowd, Shadow had teleported them away. She stamped her foot in fury as the crowd dispersed back to their seats or just left the restaurant. She was left standing there red faced as the room became silent.

Someone suddenly came through the door holding a piece of chocolate cake; he froze at seeing his companion in distress. The piece of cake dropped from his hand as she glared at him with a look that could kill.

"...What did I miss?"


	11. Shadows discovery

Shadows discovery

There was a bright flash as the chaos control transported both hedgehogs to Sonics house, making them appear in his room. Sonic felt hollow inside from the public's reaction, yet at the same time he felt all tingly because of Shadows words. If only Shadow knew that Sonic was feeling these emotions.

"I want to go bed." Sonic said suddenly and Shadow gave him a questioning look. However he did not dare argue with Sonic after what he had been through this morning, so he wheeled Sonic over to his bed and helped lift him out of his wheelchair.

Shadow helped lay him down on top of the covers and made sure his legs were in a comfortable position before leaving the room. He gave a small glance behind him at Sonics saddened face as he stared at the ceiling, _maybe taking him out was a bad idea_, Shadow thought as he looked at Sonics behaviour with regret.

"Do you, need anything?" Shadow asked as he fully turned around to face Sonic.

"No...I just want...to be alone for a while." Sonic said quietly before shutting his eyelids to rest.

Shadow silently went out and shut the door behind him.

"I promise I will make it up to you." he whispered before going down the stairs.

XXXX

"Reporter Blaze, photographer Silver. I trust that you are tracking down a story if not already have one. You have not handed in any work for over a week."

"I am sorry sir, my target is being...difficult." Blaze said nervously as she fidgeted with her gloves.

Blaze and silver were standing in a room in front of an old man in a black leather chair, a high and long wooden table separating them. Blaze glared at her companion Silver next to her who from dropping his last piece of cake decided to go get another tasty chocolate slice. He munched away, oblivious to the trouble they were in.

"If I don't get a decent story from you in the next week," The man gave a dramatic pause as he scratched his short grey beard."YOU'RE FIRED!"

"WHAT! But I am your best reporter in your entire company!" Blaze burst out with shock, Silver coughing badly as the words also gave him such a shock that he didn't swallow his cake properly.

"You are slacking reporter Blaze. Leave now, I have more important things to attend to." The man ordered.

Blazes lips tightened as she dragged a choking Silver out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. She stopped and smacked Silver hard on the back to successfully stop his choking fit.

"For the love of peace Silver, are the only things you care about your precious camera and chocolate cake!" Blaze fumed as Silver gave her a look of disbelief.

"FOR GOD SAKE IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY!" Silver tried to gasp out as he finally managed to swallow the blasted chunk of cake, "I almost choked to death!"

"Well never mind!" Blaze shouted, she had serious stress issues and Silver was the one that had to face her full wrath most of the time. Mostly Silver had to avoid flying objects that were launched by the overly stressed cat. Just like the pen that was whizzing towards him now.

"Hey! I know you're angry but avoiding thrown objects from my partner is not in my job description!" Silver said with that `matter of fact` tone to his voice again as he dodged the pen that embedded itself in the wall behind him.

"Come!" she demanded as she pushed her red spectacles further up her nose."We need to find those hedgehogs."

XXXX

"Well hey gorgeous." Rouge smiled with her lipstick covered lips as Shadow entered the GUN laboratory.

Tails stopped from his experiment on the crystal for a moment to look up, noticing it was just Shadow he just smiled and continued his work, his two tails swishing unconsciously in the process. It was now late afternoon and there was a feeling of drossiness in the air from the summer heat.

"Do you have to call me that all the time?" Shadow asked agitated as he sat with one leg over the other in a metal chair next to Rouge. "Found anything?"

"I haven't, Tails says he may have found something but he is reluctant to tell me until he is one hundred percent sure." She gave a shrug as she copied Shadow and put one leg over the other.

Tails could not help but notice that Shadow was acting really different, he was not leaning against one of the walls in silence like he always did down in the lab. Shadow was more, outgoing...like Sonic. Maybe hanging around Sonic was causing Sonics personality to rub off on him. Tails unintentionally smiled, _I think Shadow being around Sonic is causing him to open up more, he does not seem so shut up tight anymore. I like this version of the once cold hearted hedgehog. _Shadow could feel Tails staring at him and so he turned around, the fox immediately got back to work with his heart pounding.

"So how has the blue one been doing? I have not seen him out of his house since you took him home. Is everything alright?" Rouge asked with pure concern in her voice. Shadow just looked away; he could tell her what exactly was keeping Sonic in his house.

"He is fine." He replied bluntly, still not making eye contact with Rouge. Rouge found this suspicious and so did Tails who had decided to take another glimpse at the two. A long silence enveloped the small group; the only sound was the clicking and clanking of Tails at work.

"Yes, I am now absolutely positive that my calculations are correct, I have found something."Tails said as Shadow and Rouge suddenly came rushing towards him. Tails quickly flipped the switch on the monitor he had got out earlier and the same strange beeping sound started echoing in the lab once again. The sound came in even and steady beats.

"W-What is that, it's creepy?" Rouge stuttered, the sound was just like a heart beat. Even Shadow seemed a little surprised.

"This, if you haven't gathered, is a heart rate monitor used at hospitals. Since normal experiments just didn't work on the crystal I tried something out of the ordinary instead." Tails had a look of complete happiness on his face that could be compared to a small child that had just been given candy.

"How does this help with understanding how this crystal is linked to the mystery?" Rouge asked with her body still shivering with uneasiness as the sound tore its way into her skull. Seeing this Tails gave her an understanding look before turning the monitor off. When he turned back around he had the look of embarrassment on his face and was scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, the thing is...I don't actually know."

Shadow, Rouge and Tails sat down in near darkness with Shadow tapping the table as he looked at the crystal in his hand. He stared at the glimmering crystal and slowly twisted it in his grasp to see it from every angle. It seemed to him that there was nothing special about the crystal and that doing all of this was a waste of time. But another part of him insisted that there was something to find. That he was overlooking something. Rouge and Tails were both looking at him expectantly. He looked at its every detail, every small crack, every different sized cut that had been made to the crystal; _this must have been done for a reason, why would every side have a different cut?_ He pondered as he continued to examine.

It was when he was twisting it that he noticed something. Something that almost made his heart stop. He had been slowly twisting it in his gloved palm when he had reached a pacific angle that revealed something. _This is related to Sonic after all_, he thought as he quickly looked up at the other two.

"What! What have you found!" Rouge asked exasperatedly as she almost threw herself at Shadow.

"Look." Shadow ordered as he thrust the crystal to Rouge. Rouge just stared at it, before looking back at Shadow.

"What am I meant to be looking for?" She asked confused as she once again examined the crystal.

"Have you heard the saying `things are not always what they seem`?" Shadow asked as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Rouge just gave a nod and waited for his answer.

"This crystal...is not a crystal at all," Shadow started, everyone could see that the cogs were clicking inside his head. "This is a key."

Both Tails and Rouge gave each other confused glances before returning their gazes to Shadow who looked like he was trying to put together a puzzle inside his head.

"Sonic told me, that his mother had a special way of doing things." He began, still keeping his promise to Sonic by not telling personal details, or telling them about her murder. "She liked to do things by dates, by dates of which things were made. His mother designed the keys and the objects that they belonged to. The way it worked was that the key and the object would have the same date that they were made engraved on them, this showed that a key with a pacific date would open the object which also had the same date."

Shadow paused for a small break, allowing the other two to take it all in.

"Well, as I said, this crystal is not what it seems. When you look through the crystal at a pacific angle it reveals something." Shadow suddenly took the crystal from Rouges hand and slowly started twisting it in his fingers in the air so the other two could see.

Shadow suddenly reached the right angle and both Tails and Rouge gasped. There, as plain as day, a year number could be seen through the crystal. The different cuts did have a purpose, they made the date.

"So, basically, are you telling us that this crystal is in fact a key made by Sonics mother?" Rouge asked with excitement at finally finding something. Shadow gave a small sigh.

"No, I am saying that this is a key to open something...something in Sonics old house."

**END OF CHAP**

**Well there you go, hope things are a little confusing on the mystery so far. If yes, good, that is what I want. hope you are enjoying my first story so far and I hope that you continue to read it until the end. love your reviews and hope to recieve more soon. IMPORTANT NOTE: if you see xxxx it means I have switched characters probably, this technique may be used in my next chapters to make it look a little better.**


	12. The commanders hatred

The Commanders hatred

Sonic yawned as he awoke to his fourth day of being disabled, he was actually starting to get used to it, but he desperately longed to run. To run out in the cool open air and feel free again, with Shadow helping him with everything and him being shut up indoors like a bird in a cage, he felt like his condition had made him prisoner.

Being disabled was indeed hard on him, every morning he tried with unbelievable determination to try to move his legs, if even just a millimetre. But try as he might his legs refused to work and he felt a strong feeling of depression wash over him. He could feel nothing, almost as if his legs were numb, they didn't have that much feeling yet they still felt pain when it was inflicted on his legs. Sonic gave a sigh as he lifted his upper body by leaning on his elbows.

The sun once again burst through the window in the summer morning and the heat was already starting to get worse, from Sonics point of view it was about ten in the morning. He grunted as he turned uncomfortably over onto his side and used his hands to shift his legs over so that he could be more comfortable. He took in deep breaths as the whole thing took quite a lot of effort with him growling at himself for the pure weakness.

Sonic turned his head and froze. There, on the table, was a tray with a huge breakfast. Sausages, scrambled egg, hash-browns and even a plate of toast. There was a giant glass jug of orange juice with a glass next to it already filed to the brim and ready to drink. However it was not the breakfast that caught his attention the most. Next to all of this was a bouquet with an assortment of flowers blooming wonderfully and showing off their sheer brilliance in the morning sun.

_Cream must have brought another bouquet round, she's a nice kid_, Sonic thought and smiled at the very large bouquet.

Using a lot of his strength he pulled his body towards the desk that had the tray and the bouquet, taking breaks to help catch his breath, he would admit that his upper body strength was considerably weaker than his bottom half and legs. But his legs were out of use so he might as well start toning up his weak arm muscles.

The first thing he grabbed was the glass of orange juice which he gulped down gratefully, pausing as he noticed that the bouquet wrapped in white paper had a tag attached to it. Finishing off his glass with a satisfied sigh he dragged himself up into a sitting position before stretching out his arm and grabbing the bouquet. He had to admit that it indeed was a beautiful set of flowers this time around as he held them in his lap.

A strange feeling suddenly filled Sonic as he stared at the tag that needed to be turned over. Hesitantly, he gently held the small piece of card and slowly turned it over, the words written there were in an unfamiliar handwriting. Sonic felt the corners of his mouth upturn into a smile as he read the words.

_I'm sorry_. Was written there in black fashionable letters, and it didn't take long for him to realise that these were from Shadow. This fact made his smile even broader as he smelled the blissful scent of the lilies. _Shadow must have felt guilty after what happened yesterday morning; he even made a breakfast to boot. Shadow is definitely changing...even though he probably wouldn't admit it, but I like that about him, he is proud and has a strong sense of dignity. _Sonic suddenly burst into laughter as he thought of the last past with a memory of Shadow coming out of his kitchen closet covered in brooms and all sorts.

Shadow was down stairs sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee steaming in his gloved hands. He had just put it to his lips and was about to take a sip when he heard a laugh coming from upstairs making him pause. Shadow unintentionally smiled before having a sip and placing the cup down on the table, the kitchen was spick and span just as it was the day Amy came around with the exception of the pots and pans that were awaiting to be washed in the sink from Shadow making Sonics breakfast.

"I promised I would make it up to you, and I always keep my promises." Shadow whispered before standing and heading over to the sink to do the washing up. The laugh he heard was the first real laugh he had heard from his blue counterpart since the incident. And it felt good to hear it.

xxxx

It is now the next day after their boss had threatened Blaze and Silver that they would lose their jobs and Blaze seems to be the only one concentrating. Blaze sat on her seat beneath the sun umbrella as she waited for Silver to come back with the drinks; it was a really hot summer and incredibly uncomfortable for one with a fur coat. She tapped her pencil impatiently on the table as she stared at her new yet empty notepad, the incident at McDonalds meant that she had to get an entirely new one. She did not even look up at the sound of familiar footsteps coming towards her.

"I got normal milk, your favourite." Silver smiled as he put it down near her notepad; on impulse she moved it further away not wanting to risk the waste of another notepad. Silver could not help but snigger at her behaviour since the orange juice accident; she would not let any liquid near her notepad, not even a small drop.

Silver plonked himself down in the seat opposite her and put his drink of chocolate milk down as well. Blaze just stared at him.

"Can't you just have normal stuff?" Blaze asked and continued when Silver gave her a confused look. "Meaning why can't you have normal milk? It has to be chocolate. You won't have normal cake, it has to be chocolate. Not even biscuits, IT HAS TO BE BLOODY CHOCOLATE!" Blaze suddenly burst out as she snapped her pencil.

"See, I told you that you should have brought a pen instead." Silver sniggered at the broken in half pencil.

"Enough of this!" She snarled as she suddenly grabbed her cool glass of milk and gulped it down. "We need to find where Sonic lives."

Silver gave a shocked look as Blaze started to walk away; he gulped down his choc milk before jogging to keep up with her.

_It seems that Shadow is indeed involved like Silver said_, Blaze thought as she remembered that time in McDonalds. She kept walking at a brisk pace. Shadow is very tough and even though she would not admit it to Silver, she was actually slightly frightened of him.

However she was not about to let that deter her from her mission, she was going to find where Sonic lived if that was the last thing she would ever do. To be honest, if she didn't get the story soon, it would be the last thing she ever does.

xxxx

"Sir..." a GUN soldier stuttered nervously as he stared at the back of his frightening commander.

The Commander remained unfazed, arms behind his back as he glared at the full mission list on Shadows screen. Mission upon mission appeared with no sign of ceasing and the commander was on the end of his thin rope, it did not take a lot for him to blow.

His fists clenched as more popped up on Shadows mission screen waiting for him to accept them. The commander snarled in fury as he thought of that disgusting excuse of an ultimate life-form, the disgusting disobedient creature that refused to be used as a war weapon and only for data retrieving missions. The damn creature that refused to kill unless it was absolutely necessary, unlike his partner Rouge that took all the assassination missions. The creature he so desperately wanted to humiliate.

"Sir," the soldier tried again with a smidgen of confidence, now standing straight awaiting his commander to answer.

The commander still refused to answer but turned around and looked at the soldier with cold narrowed eyes. The soldier physically shied away from that evil stare as the commanders medals reflected in the light. Coming closer to the soldier he towered over him with a sense of pride as the other slightly twitched nervously.

"Young man," the commander paused as he stepped down the few steps that lay between him and his prey. The soldier quickly put his hand to his forehead in a salute. "Walk with me." he beckoned and watched with satisfaction as the soldier practically ran to his side in fear.

"Do you not realise," The commander began, his steel based boots clinking on the metal tiled floor. "What we are dealing with."

The soldier remained in complete silence in fear of giving the wrong answer and experiencing his commander's wrath. This did not satisfy the commander, not one bit. He suddenly grabbed his soldier's collar and lifted him off of his feet in rage. The soldier yelped in fear at the strong grip around his neck.

"ANSWER ME PRIVATE!" The commander roared in the soldier's ear. Bits of spit hitting the others face.

"Y-Yes sir." The other croaked. All the others sitting at computers turned to see the scene and gasped in horror at the treatment.

"No you don't." The commander dropped the soldier who crawled away from the commander and trembled with fear. The commander snorted with disgust at his so called soldier that cowered beneath his gaze. He turned to face his team of technicians that were gaping at the scene.

"We, the people of today, are experiencing a crisis," The commander paced up and down on his platform, his eyes never leaving his audience. "A crisis that not only involves the strange wolf beast that lies within GUNs basement, a crisis that not only involves the lack of GUN men because of that fowl beast. But involves what he calls himself `the ultimate life-form`." The commander spat out the name with obvious distaste and disgust, his face scrunching up with hatred at the thought of the black hedgehog.

Some in the room exchanged glances, others listened intently, and some even had the same look as the commander on their faces.

"We, as the protectors of this planet, have a right to choose who we have to protect our planet, not some lunatic scientist who created the ultimate life-form." The commander continued, standing in the middle of the platform with a strong look of leadership as he faced his listening audience. "That pest is the crisis here. He thinks that he is so superior to us; I give him my most heartfelt generosity by giving him a place here in GUN. And what does he do, he refuses to work and thinks he is so almighty and powerful." The Commander slammed his fist on a metal desk making an indent in the sturdy material.

"Well...we shall show the world what a slacker and down right lazy piece of trash Shadow the hedgehog really is."

Many of the technicians sitting at the computers rose from their seats and cheered in agreement, whilst others had a look of worry on their faces for Shadow. One person who was not in the room also gave a worried look; Rouge was against the door ears dropping on the commander's speech with her brows furrowed in a mixture of anger for her boss and worry for her partner.

"Oh Shadow." Rouge sank to the ground with her wings folded in sadness."If only you could see how much I need you here."

xxxx

"You got the camera ready?" Blaze whispered to Silver next to her who was fiddling around with the lens. Both were lying behind a bush in hiding as they waited for their prey.

Silver got it ready and checked the focus in silence before smiling and slightly trembling with excitement said, "this is so exciting!"

Blaze just gave him a blank expression before saying, "You're so naive."

It was now about midday and both had decided to hide outside of the GUN building just outside of the city, lying in wait for Shadow to exit the building. If only they knew that he was not there.

"Why are we here again?" Silver asked as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"We can not find Sonics home and everyone we have asked has refused to give us information. We are here waiting for Shadow since he will probably lead us straight to Sonics house." Blaze answered with an irritated sigh as she fiddled with her notepad with a bored expression.

However what they didn't expect was Rouge to come flying out of the building with a some what frightened and desperate expression on her face as she flew off. A couple of seconds later a whole crowd of GUN soldiers and the commander came marching out of the GUN building with an unknown crew of camera men that also followed them with cameras held high. Silver quickly got his camera ready with wide eyes and snapped away wildly, Blaze also having the same expression as she watched the small crowd head the way Rouge had flown.

"What do you think is going on Blaze?" Silver asked quickly not even stopping his camera work as he continued to snap away through the leaves of the bush.

"I don't know," she muttered before pulling at Silvers arm to follow. "But we're going to find out."

xxxx

Shadow was just about to finish his cup of coffee when a loud banging came from the front door, the knocks were close together and quite hard showing that who ever was knocking was highly desperate. Shadow cocked an eyebrow as the knocking became even more violent not even five seconds later, he got up and hurried to the door to take a small peek through the eyehole. Standing out there with an obviously frightened and nervous expression was Rouge.

He undid the safety lock which he suspected Sonic had for Amy since she did have a key before opening the door. He did not even get a chance to move out of the way as Rouge came barging in almost knocking him over.

"You've got to flee now!" She practically screamed at him in panic as she ran into the living room with Shadow hot on her heels, he wore an expression of worry as he watched her pace up and down the room nervously as she bit the fingertips of her gloves. Although he never felt worried often he couldn't help but feel worry at seeing his partner Rouge in so much distress. She never acted like this.

"Flee? Flee fr-"

"GUN! GUN IS COMING, YOU HAVE GOT GO! NOW!" She interrupted as she pulled at her ears in frustration.

"Shadow what's going on down there?" Sonic called from upstairs with a hint of worry in his voice at sensing the sudden tension down stairs.

Rouge looked at Shadow with wide eyes before charging up the stairs at top speed, she knew it was Sonics house but Sonic also had to get out of here too.

"ROUGE NO!" Shadow shouted as he bolted up the stairs and tried to stop her. Rouge didn't know about Sonics condition!

The door to Sonics room burst open as Rouge almost broke the door off its hinges. She froze immediately. First she stared at Sonic in bed with a look of confusion plastered on his face and then at the metal contraction opened up next to his bed. Rouge was staring at his wheelchair. Her hand went to her mouth in shock as she stepped back with her thoughts running wild, _was this the permanent condition the doctor was talking about, is Sonic...disabled? _

Shadow came into the room seconds after looking at the bewildered Sonic with an apologetic look. Shadows ears suddenly pricked as he heard the muffled sound of not far off voices that were heading this way, Rouge had also heard them and she rushed to window to look back the way she had came.

"What is going on?" Sonic demanded answers as he felt himself become uneasy at the other twos behaviour.

"GUN is coming! The commander is furious at the lack of commitment Shadow has shown and he is using it as an excuse to humiliate him in front of the entire world. I was worried for Shadow because I thought the commander would actually attempt to confine him like he threatened to do long ago. But now I see that Shadow has not been slacking off, he has been looking after you." Rouge said as she looked at Sonic that she had just realised was disabled.

"How can they humiliate me in front of the entire world?" Shadow asked as he crossed his arms with discomfort at Rouges words.

"They have got a camera crew and every channel in the entire world is on it. But to be honest I am now more worried about him!" Rouge raised her voice as she pointed at Sonic. "If we can't get him out of here quick enough the entire world is going to find out that their hero is in a wheelchair!"

**END OF CHAPTER**

**I am already working on the next chapter as quickly as i can, please bare with me :)**


	13. The Great escape

The great escape

Shouting could be heard outside of Sonics house as the GUN crowd pounded on the door of his home, shouting that consisted of `open the door`, `give us the weakling Shadow` and `you can't hide away forever`. Rouge had to restrain Shadow from going downstairs and ripping their throats out from calling him a weakling.

"There is the back door, but that's directly to my garden and I can't get out of there in a wheelchair." Sonic stated with worry as the bangs down stairs became more violent.

"Rouge, fold up his wheelchair and carry it." Shadow ordered before without any warning picked Sonic up and held him bridal style. Sonic squirmed in discomfort and blushed at the contact but did not get time to argue as Shadow started hurrying down the stairs two at a time. Rouge close behind.

The front door vibrated with the force from the intruders outside as Shadow quietly passed the door and headed towards the kitchen to escape through the back.

His red eyes travelled across the garden through the kitchen window. There was no one in the garden blocking their path. A sigh of relief came from both Sonic and Shadow from seeing a clear exit. Holding Sonic supportively in one arm he used the other to slowly turn the handle. He did not want the people at the front door to hear the handle turning. Sonic held his breath as the handle clicked and the door was carefully pushed open by Shadow. Rouge was right behind and followed quickly as Shadow ushered her out.

Carefully shutting the door behind them Shadow ran to the edge of the garden. Sonic automatically clung on harder to Shadow as he jumped over the fence without warning. To him this was like mission impossible as they fled from the GUN troops.

The street they entered from the garden was very shaded and perfect for concealing Shadows black colours. Rouge flew over the fence and hid with Shadow and Sonic behind a hedge as they inspected their surroundings, with wheelchair in tow. All were breathing heavily from adrenaline as the suspense and tension slowly started to calm down. Little did they know that across the street Blaze and Silver were hidden within a bush as well completely unaware of their target escaping.

"Alright sugar, where now?" Rouge gasped to Shadow as her shaking hands slowly became calm.

"This is probably the best time to go to your old house; you do still know where it is?" Shadow looked down at Sonic in his arms, slightly chuffed at Sonic actually being relaxed in his grip.

Sonic gave him a surprised look, but he gave a small nod in answer as he glanced around nervously. He occasionally twitched with nerves as he became more jumpy. "It isn't in this country though."

"Right, Rouge we need a plane." Shadow focused on Rouge who was tapping away on her communicator on her wrist.

"Already on it Hun," She said with her ocean blue eyes fixed on the plane hologram that popped out of the communicator screen. "I think there is one, but we have to go into what we should now class as enemy territory. We have to enter GUN."

Shadow gave an annoyed growl at this. Sonic was transfixed by the hologram plane, not used to seeing such technology unless it was Tails.

"THIS WAY!"

Shadow, Rouge and Sonic froze at hearing the shout come from behind Sonics fence. They had already bashed the door down and had entered the garden.

"Shit, we better get out of here quick!" Shadow cursed as his eyes narrowed with anger. He clutched Sonics body as they started bolting across the street and into an alleyway for cover. They shimmied across the cold, damp, brick wall that was submerged in darkness and peered around the corner to make sure the coast was clear. Rouge gracefully kept up as she flew near their heads with silent wings.

Sonic looked behind Shadows shoulder in uneasiness. He suppressed a gasp as Shadow grasped him tighter in reassurance. Sonic looked up at Shadows eyes from his arms, Shadow didn't look back but he knew Sonic was watching him. Rouge couldn't help but smile in this dire situation at just how cute the two hedgehogs looked together.

xxxx

"Isn't this great!" Silver said with joy over the angry voices of the crowd as he snapped away on his camera again. Blaze was unimpressed.

"You are so naive! Do you not realise the seriousness of the situation here!" She whispered angrily at him as she clutched her notepad that already had notes on its pages.

Suddenly out of the corner of her eye a shadow passed the street and into an alleyway. Not taking her eyes off the alleyway she slowly raised her hand behind her and put it onto Silvers shoulder, the hedgehog looked away from the crowd at the contact and looked at where she was watching with her narrowed, yellow eyes.

"It looks like they have fled the scene."

xxxx

All three of the runaways kept at a brisk pace, GUN was incredibly far from the centre of the city where Sonic lived and they had to get through it without being caught. It seemed that the GUN commander had noticed that they had escaped and had situated GUN soldiers throughout the city of Soleanna. Shadow quickly backed away onto a wall of another alleyway as a set of three marching GUN soldiers passed their hiding place.

"This is becoming more difficult." Rouge hissed. She was in mission mode; her eyes had a wild look to them as she concentrated on the mission alone. No more sweet names or sweet talk, this Rouge was all business.

Shadow gave a curt nod not wanting to attract attention, he could feel Sonic swivelling his head to keep looking behind him to see if anything was coming. Shadows ruby eyes were soft as he thought of a strategy.

"The coast is clear." He muttered quietly as he slowly crept away from the shadows and the safety of the alley.

The whole street was covered in sunlight and there was no other shade to hide away in. Shadow stood out like a sore thumb in the light. They hurried quickly along the street. They turned a bend. Right there was a soldier heading their way. Shadow quickly skidded to a halt with wide eyes. Rouge seeing the sudden action grabbed them.

"Over here!" The soldier shouted as he held his gun high and headed to where he had seen Shadow. Three others approached him.

"I'm sorry, I swear they were here." The soldier said ashamed as he turned to find an empty street, the others gave him angry looks for the false alarm.

Rouge held both in her arms as they ducked behind large flower pots on a balcony above the soldiers. Rouge was just quick enough to fly them up there to save them.

"We need to be more cautious, that was too close for comfort." She whispered as she watched all four soldiers scatter.

Shadow could feel Sonics heart pounding as he held him and Rouge looked at him with what looked like pity. Sonic, not being able to move by himself was feeling vulnerable, something he hated. Shadow squeezed him slightly in reassurance again before they all jumped off the balcony in silence and fled. Their feet tapped on the stone paths of Soleanna. They wished that they could just get away. By now both Shadow and Rouge were drenched with sweat, Rouge from flying and Shadow from the running.

At the next opportunity they dashed into an alleyway that was filled with dustbins and washing hanging above their heads. The smell was unbearable for the three as they ran through puddles that still remained from the dew of the morning with loud splashes.

"HERE!"

Rouge turned her head during flight to see a soldier on one knee and aiming with his pistol.

"WATCH OUT!" She screamed as she did a twisting manoeuvre in mid air to avoid the deadly bullets.

Loud clangs were heard as the bullets hit the walls. Shadow quickly rebounded off the walls of the narrow passage with amazing agility. Sonic held on tighter to Shadows chest fur as he felt a bullet just miss him as it whizzed past.

"DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" the shouts persisted.

Loud feet thundered behind them as what sounded like an army of soldiers followed in hot pursuit. The alley seemed to last forever. It was a cold dark maze and the three took a right turn. More gunfire could be heard. Flashes of bright sparks illuminated the walls around them. The GUN were catching up. Sonic felt fear like he had never felt before as the darkness of the alley consumed him.

Rouge flew ahead at top speed. Sweat dripped from her short white hair as she carried Sonics wheelchair in one arm. She took a left turn. They skidded to halt in front of a dead end with wide eyes.

"They went this way!" the voices were loud and the sound of their thundering feet was so close.

"What now?" Sonic asked worriedly as he looked at Shadow.

"Grab onto me!" Rouge demanded as she hovered over them.

The GUN soldiers turned the bend. Their guns were ready to fire. The three had disappeared. Shadow and Sonic both held on tight to Rouges waist as she flew up towards the blue sky. She flew up and up in silent flying as she headed towards the top of the buildings and their escape.

"THERE! OPEN FIRE."

Guns shot everywhere as the bullets sparked on the narrow walls of the alley. Rouge sped up her flying, these buildings were high. She manoeuvred to stop the bullets hitting her. Her wings pushed powerfully against gravity as she soared up towards the light.

"AHHH!" Rouge screamed.

"Rouge no!" Shadow shouted. His eyes were closed as blood splattered onto his face. Rouge had been hit.

"I got her!" A soldier down bellow cheered as he watched Rouge falter.

Rouges wing beats became more laboured as the blood continued to trickle down from somewhere unknown. Adrenaline took over as she forced every muscle to push her and her other twos weight up.

With almighty speed they shot out and into the sunlight, finally away from the never-ending alleys darkness. They flew up towards the cloudless sky as she flew over Soleanna.

"Rouge we need to land! You've been hit!" Shadow shouted over the deafening rushing wind as they escaped the alleys. Rouge gave no answer. Her body was seething in pain.

"Over there!" Sonic shouted as he pointed towards the giant GUN building on the outskirts of the city. Both Shadows and Sonics legs dangled beneath them as Rouge flew them through the skies. Shadow looked down and saw that GUN soldiers patrolled every street, landing would be too dangerous. He looked up at Rouge who was struggling to breathe; it would be too dangerous for her to keep flying.

"I can't see where you've been hit, we have to land." Shadow shouted over the roaring winds.

"My wing!" She answered as her wing beats became more laboured and out of sync. "My right wing has been hit."

Shadow looked up directly above his head to see the bullet hole. The bullet was embedded within the wing and the wound was deep. Blood still trickled mercilessly from it and onto his face. Sonic looked over to the blood coated Shadows face and gave him a look of concern for her.

Suddenly, and without warning, Rouges wing failed her and they started plummeting to the ground. The roofs of the city that seemed so small grew as they fell. Sonics wheelchair dropped from her hand and Sonic and Shadow watched horrified as it also plummeted to the ground before them. Shadow rose himself so that he was face to face with Rouge. Her eyes were closed in a pained expression and nothing in her body moved. She was unconscious.

"She's out!" Shadow called to Sonic as the strong winds whipped his spikes and stung his eyes. "If I had a chaos emerald I would get us out of this mess."

Sonic remained silent as he watched in terror the roof tops that were now unbelievably close. He could not believe that Rouge had actually flown them that high with an injured wing.

A loud buzzing noise could be heard in the distance, but both hedgehogs paid no attention to it.

"Sonic!" Shadow called over the rushing winds. Sonic looked at him.

"I have been trying to tell you something for almost a week now, and I think this may be the last time I get to say it." Shadows eyes locked onto Sonics as everything in his whole being made him say the magic words.

"Sonic...I Love you!

The buzzing came closer but was so loud that Sonic couldn't make out what Shadow had said and suddenly Sonic was hit by a blue plain of which he clung to the wing for dear life.

"Sonic!" An all too familiar voice shouted with delight. Sonic looked over to the cockpit to see none other than Tails flying the Tornado. The two-tailed fox grinned at him as the wind ruffled his yellow fur.

"Catch her!"

Sonics head whipped round to see Shadow throw the unconscious Rouge towards Tails, but he couldn't get even remotely close to getting himself to the plane. Rouge hit Tails, catching him unawares. He quickly put Rouge in the back seat before turning back to the Tornados controls.

"Shadow!" Sonic cried as he thrust his arm out towards Shadow who was falling further below them.

"DON'T WORRY, I WILL MEET YOU THERE." Shadow shouted as he continued to fall. Now that he knew that Sonic was safe he could head towards the ground no problem. Sonic would not have survived the fall, but he would.

To Sonic Shadows voice was distant but he could still make out what he had said. He turned to Tails and gave his signature smirk.

"Thanks pal; did you by chance hear what Shadow said to me earlier? Your plane covered it up."

"No. Sorry." Tails answered as he gave Sonic an apologetic look.

"Oh. No worries. Head to GUN pal." Sonic instructed as Tails did a U-turn and headed towards the GUN base.

"Why?" Tails asked over the winds. "Everyone is gone."

"That's what we want Tails; it will be easier with no one there. We need a bigger plane." Sonic replied as the wind ruffled up his blue spikes. Tails had noticed that Sonic hadn't moved from his laying position on the wing, in fact he hadn't moved his legs at all. _That's strange_, Tails thought as he guided his beloved plane to the base.

Sonic looked back to see Shadow, but the black hedgehog was already out of sight. Sonics eyes softened in worry for his black counterpart, but he immediately brushed it away, this was Shadow he was thinking about.

The Tornado soared through the skies as the sun reflected off of Sonics beautiful emerald green eyes, they were now high above the GUN base as Tails came in to land on the landing platform. They spiralled around in circles as the ground slowly became lower. A laser was suddenly shot from one of GUN defence cannons.

"What! I thought you said that no one was there Tails!" Sonic cried out desperately.

"There isn't!" Tails answered with wide eyes as he just missed the red laser beam. _This is odd, there is no one there to activate and control the laser, what is going on? _Tails thought as he looked back at Sonic who was clinging to the wing with all his might.

It was not far from the landing point now and Tails moved swiftly in order to avoid the lasers. But he made a bad judgement and the Wing Sonic was on was cut clean off from the plane. Tails watched petrified as Sonic fell away from him looking back at Tails with horror.

Sonic fell and shut his eyes in fear as the ground came closer. Because he couldn't move his legs he couldn't move himself into a safer position. He hit the ground on his back at full force. His head smacked the ground hard. He felt the large pound in his head at the sheer force and the last thing he saw was a blurry vision of Tails' plane circling above him and the muffled sound of Tails screaming his name.

"Shadow..." was his last muttered words as he fell into darkness.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**This is the third time Sonic has fallen unconcious in my story. HOWEVER THIS TIME IT HAS A MEANING, find out in later chapters. First attempt at writing an action scene. I have not written many stories in my life that have emotional scenes, action scenes or fighting scenes. i have done two so far and the fighting scene will be the big finally of the last chapter. keep reading and i hope you enjoy it:)**


	14. Surrounded

**Hello everyone, sorry for the wait. thanks for all of your encourageing reviews and i have to admit, I love this chapter. I think this chapter is the best so far. The beginning is not as good, but it gets well good later on. enjoy!**

Surrounded

"Sonic!" The muffled sound of Tails reached Sonics still blocked out ears.

"Is he alright?" Rouge must have obviously awakened since that voice was definitely her.

Sonic saw his vision starting to clear at a terribly slow pace as he could see a yellow and white blur looking down on him as they kneeled down next to him. Tails checked Sonics body for serious injuries.

"Hey Sonic," Tails said calmly as he shined a small torch into the blue hedgehogs eyes. "You are awake, come on now."

Sonic blinked sluggishly at the bright light before giving a pained groan as he sat up, Rouge clapped a hand to her chest in relief and smiled at him.

"You gave me quite a worry there Hun." She gasped out as she closed her eyes.

"Don't worry about me, are you alright? Your wing got shot." Sonic suddenly remembered and looked towards the wing that still oozed her crimson blood. Rouge gave an exhausted sigh in return.

"My wing is going to have to wait for now, we need to get on that plane. The GUN are already heading back to headquarters."

As Sonics mind finally started fitting back into place he remembered when Shadow had fallen, his wheelchair had fallen too. He rubbed the back of his head where he had made contact with the ground with a lazy hand which when he moved back to his side was covered in his own blood. Tails noticed this and started to panic as she fussed around Sonics head quills to try and find the wound. Rouge laughed at the fox's innocence.

"Tails!" Sonic grunted with annoyance, but he did not push the caring fox away.

"Come on Sonic!" Tails suddenly grabbed his arm and attempted to get Sonic on his feet. Sonic gave a shocked look as Tails pulled him up and started dragging the once hero across the concrete floor.

Rouge suddenly widened her eyes as she realised that the fox didn't know about Sonics condition, she made haste as she quickly ran over with a pained hiss and took the fox's wrist to halt him. Tails gave Rouge a bewildered look as he turned back to Sonic who was desperately trying to pry the fox's gloved hand off of his arm.

"Tails...he's disabled, he can't even stand yet alone walk." Rouge whispered as she gave Sonic a look of pity. Tails froze to the spot at hearing this and felt tears start to form in his eyes. Did his electric net machine really do this to his best friend? He let go of Sonics arm and Sonic looked away embarrassed.

But before further conversation could take place Rouge suddenly scooped Sonic off of the floor and bolted towards GUN's large metal entrance gates. She took one last look behind her, obviously hoping to see Shadow turn up. But no one came. She gave a disappointed sigh as she ran into the GUN building with Sonic in tow and Tails close behind.

Their shoes clinked on the metal floor and Rouge breathed heavily from the wound that was slowly draining her, Sonic gave her a concerned look from which she smiled back at before turning serious again. Shimmying against the walls in an attempt to remain hidden they made their way through the deserted GUN headquarters at a slow yet steady pace. Sonic couldn't really concentrate on the tension that filled the air around the small group; his mind was preoccupied with a certain black counterpart that still had not showed up. Sonic bit his lip as he tried to bottle up his concern.

The air was cold inside GUN and the cameras were bowed down since they were not being used, Rouge couldn't help but smirk at this_, the commander really is brainless to not have the cameras working, he wouldn't know that we came through here, _Rouge mentally sniggered as the trio turned another bend.

What lie ahead of the small group was a very suspicious looking long, dark corridor. Sonic couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as the three slowly started walking into the darkness; it reminded Sonic of the alleyways of Soleanna that they had passed through not too long ago. The whole corridor did not have a single door, no turnings and no lights. Nothing was in this long, never ending corridor, even Rouge seemed a bit unnerved as she continued to walk further and further into the darkness.

Rouge glanced at her communicator that showed a map with a flashing red light, the red light was their position and the map clearly showed that they were heading the right way to the plane. She narrowed her eyes at the map as she tried to remember if she had ever gone down this corridor before in the past, but she could not recall ever even seeing this corridor before.

Even Tails was uneasy as he gulped nervously at the darkness that was slowly but surely surrounding them. Sonic felt a strange sensation in his head that made him feel fuzzy with nausea; he raised a hand to his forehead and put pressure on his temple in an attempt to push the feelings away.

"You alright?" Rouge asked as she looked down upon the hedgehog in her arms.

"Yeah...I must have hit the ground harder than I thought." Sonic said groggily as he attempted to keep his heavy eyelids open.

Frowning at this Rouge quickened her pace and Tails scurried after her with fear written all over his face, he was not going to say that he was afraid of the dark in front of the cocky bat, she would not let him live it down.

Ahead of them a small light could be seen, a spark of hope filled all three of them as Rouge and Tails started sprinting towards it. They had been walking in that horrid corridor for a whole five minutes and to see light was a huge relief to Tails. Rouge was not coping well as the sprinting nearly made her faint at her blood loss, but she had to get to that plane first. She pushed herself to her limit as they sprinted towards the light that grew as they approached. Sweat dripped from Rouge at pushing herself to such an extent.

They burst into the light that led to a huge, sunshine filled warehouse, and just across the room was the large plane they were looking for. The group smiled with relief, through all of the running, hiding, injuries and fear they had finally made it to the plane that was their escape. Tails two tails started to sway in happiness as they ran towards the giant plane. The plane was grey and had rust developing in some places; it was obvious that it had not been used in some time as a thick layer of dust covered the long wings. The GUN logo was faded and hard to make out and the glass windows were dirty and hard to see through.

"Are you sure this plane is safe?" Tails asked as he looked at the plane with doubt.

"It's all we've got." Rouge answered as she too also doubted the old plane, but they had no choice.

Suddenly shouts could be heard down the dark corridor they had just escaped from and torch beams could be seen reflecting off of the metal walls. The GUN soldiers had already got back. Banging could be heard above them and the three whipped their heads up to the giant glass windows on the ceiling. GUN soldiers were on the glass windows getting their guns out and ready.

"RUN!" Rouge screamed as bullets suddenly rained down upon them lighting up the floor with orange sparks.

Tails did a forward roll to hide beneath another plane. Rouge did her best to avoid the bullets with Sonic in her arms. She turned to Tails underneath another plane and beckoned him to hurry as she ran up the metal stairs that led to their planes door. She grabbed the handle desperately as she heard the GUN soldiers down the corridor enter the room with marching feet. But the handle was so rusted that the door didn't even budge.

Sonic held his breath as the GUN soldiers surrounded the plane and got into position to open fire. Rouge took a step back and with her strong legs kicked the handle with her metal heel. The handle didn't move, it was completely stuck!

"Do not move! you have been caught!" The soldiers shouted as they loaded their guns at Rouges movement.

There was a pained scream as Tails was grabbed by his tails roughly and thrown out from under the plane he was hiding under. More soldiers surrounded him and grabbed his tails which made the fox cry out in pain.

Rouge looked up as she heard a crack of glass from above. When she looked the GUN soldiers on the windows were attempting to break through. They were surrounded from above, around them and Tails had been taken hostage. Sonic snarled at the harsh treatment the soldiers inflicted on his friend.

"Come away from the plane!" the same soldier that spoke before spoke again. "I will give you to the count of three!"

Rouge was taken aback as the soldiers all raised their weapons at her. Sonic slightly trembled in her grasp and his ears flattened, he would not usually act like this, but he couldn't do anything with legs that didn't work.

"One!"

Rouge tightly held Sonic as she attempted to bash the handle down with her heel again. It did not move.

"Two!"

Sonic held his breath. Rouge closed her eyes. Tails covered his ears.

"THREE!" A familiar voice shouted.

All three looked up in shock to see bright flashes as a familiar move knocked the soldiers out unconscious. When the lights died down and the smoke had slowly started to clear there stood Shadow with a strange smile on his face.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, I am the ultimate life-form."

Pure happiness and thrill filled Sonic at seeing Shadow before him. Rouge felt her eyes prick with tears of joy as she rushed down the steps and ran towards him. Tails, who was now free from the soldiers grasp, also stood up and ran towards the black hedgehog.

However, the smoke had not fully cleared, when it did though all three gasped in shock. Shadow had his left arm in a sling made out of someone's shirt that had obviously been someone's drying laundry. Sonics smile abruptly disappeared at seeing the injury.

"Quit staring Faker, it's just a broken arm." Shadow stated as he looked Sonic in the eyes.

The two hedgehogs didn't have time to start an argument however as glass shards started falling from the ceiling as the soldiers above started to break through. All four hurried to the plane stairs again, but Shadow stopped them at the bottom. He leapt high into the air and unleashed another chaos spear with his good arm at the rusted door. The door immediately gave way and fell into the plane.

None of them noticed Blaze and Silver enter the warehouse like room and hide away behind a set of crates.

As they entered the plane there were two doors, one to the left and one to the right, all turned right to rush towards the pilots' control room. Tails swung the sliding door aside and looked with amazement at the size of the control room. There was the large glass window to see the skies and the pilots' seat was made out of leather and was pure luxury.

"Tails, you're the pilot." Sonic gave Tails the thumbs up and Tails gave a gleeful smile as he saluted Sonic in return and rushed to admire the seat he would be sitting in as pilot.

"Thank God!" Rouge gasped out in relief as she practically dropped Sonic onto the floor of the pilots control room. Shadow glared at Rouge for it, but it quickly vanished at just seeing how exhausted his bat friend looked. Sonic glared at Rouge who fell to the floor next to him.

"We better take flight guys, those soldiers are going to break through the glass soon and I have to make a U-turn to head towards the-"Tails suddenly stopped and felt himself panic.

"What?" Sonic looked at his panicking friend.

"The door where the plane must exit! Its closed, someone has to go and open it!" Tails started to bite the tips of his gloved hands as more glass shards fell onto the huge glass window of the plane and shouting could be heard from above.

Without a word Shadow turned around and ran for the door and left the control room. Rouge gaped at the now empty doorway before suddenly getting up with new found energy and bounding after him.

"ROUGE NO!" Tails tried to call her back but she had already left the room. "You're wing." He finished at the empty doorway.

"Don't worry." Sonic reassured him on the floor as he gave another thumbs up. "Rouge is a strong girl; she got me this far with an injured wing. She will be fine."

xxxx

"ROUGE GO BACK!" Shadow shouted behind him as he heard her heels on the floor. Shadow was skating with his hover skates towards the large wooden doors that needed to be unlocked and opened.

"No, we do this together!" She shouted as she caught up. Rouge was in no condition to carry on.

The Sound of smashing glass filled their ears and the GUN soldiers that were on the ceiling windows slid down on ropes towards the ground.

"Fine! You do the locks, I will defend you." Shadow ordered as he suddenly skidded to a halt and turned to face his opponents, Rouge ran past him and headed towards the doors with a look of worry for her black friend.

xxxx

"We better start making that U-turn buddy." Sonic said as he heard the unmistakable sound of the glass of the warehouse shatter and the sound of shouting soldiers as their feet hit the ground.

"I'm on it." Tails replied as he swung himself into the comfy leather seat and started switching on the controls. His tails twitched with the tension of the situation as he pushed buttons and slid leavers before grabbing the control wheel.

"Here we go!"

xxxx

Rouge reached the doors just as the sound of a roaring plane engine filled her ears; it seemed that Tails was already getting ready for the escape. She looked at the locks at the bottom on the door which were padlocks; she growled in frustration at how hard things were on her at the moment.

Shadow was using chaos spear behind her and the cries of the soldiers helped to reassure her that he indeed was protecting her.

"Hurry Rouge, I am running out of chaos energy and I can not use chaos spear forever." Shadow growled as he unleashed another blinding light of chaos spear.

Rouge was using a picklock from her pocket and had just managed to unlock it with a satisfying click.

"I've got it!"

xxxx

"Hope they open it soon." Tails muttered as he had now made the U-turn and was facing the direction of the door, Rouge with the lock and Shadow fighting the soldiers was fully visible. He could see that Shadow was struggling, but he could also see that Rouge had undone the lock.

"I'm moving forward!"

xxxx

Shadow suddenly gave a look of pure shock as he saw the plane heading straight towards them.

"Swap places Shadow!" Rouge demanded as she came towards him. "You need to rest!"

"No!" Shadow growled as he took out another soldier, they just didn't stop coming. "You are injured and exhausted and I just can't watch you get hurt."

"You're injured too Shadow, you are my friend and I will protect you. No matter the cost!" She screamed as she lunged at the soldier Shadow was about to attack. "Open the doors I will be fine."

Shadow watched in amazement, Rouge was battered, bruised and had a serious injury that still hadn't stopped bleeding. She was suffering from blood loss, dehydration and exhaustion...yet she still put herself in harms way to help him. He watched as she kicked and punched the soldiers with unknown determination.

"Shadow! Go!" She shouted as she breathed heavily.

With a pull in his chest he fled from her with deep regret, this was Maria all over again. He got to the door and leant his back up against the door and pushed with all his might. The door slowly started to open.

xxxx

"WE ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!" Tails cried as the plane slowly started picking up speed and was slightly off of the ground. The door was still not open. Sonic could not see since he was on the floor but the frightened tone in Tails' voice said it all.

xxxx

"SHADOW HURRY!" Rouge screamed desperately.

"I am pushing as hard as I can with a broken arm!" Shadow shouted back irritated as he looked at his arm in the sling. The door was more than half way there.

Shadow finally got the door fully open and was heading towards Rouge. The plane was now metres off of the ground. He picked her up and leapt from the remaining soldiers and into the hole where the door of the plane had once been. They had escaped. From pure exhaustion Rouge fainted in his arms.

"You really are a true friend." Shadow smiled as he started making his way towards the control room.

Shadow entered the room to a cheering Tails as the plane went through the door and they were soaring through the orange coloured skies of a sunset above the city of Soleanna. Tails switched the automatic on and started dancing around the room from his success of flying his first ever big plane. Sonic smiled at Tails and Shadow smiled at him, they had finally escaped...and could finally relax now. If only they had noticed that Blaze and Silver had entered the cargo unit at the back of the plane.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**did you like it, i hope you did. Maybe a long time until the next chapter.**


	15. Exploring the plane part 1

Exploring the plane part 1

The four runaways from GUN are now way beyond the city of Soleanna's borders, the black sky twinkling with its many diamonds of stars as they flew over the ocean. The full moon had just started to rise above the horizon bathing the waves of the ocean and the plane in moonlight, the plane crew were all in the control room with Tails sitting comfortably in the pilots' seat steering them safely across the oceans waters.

"We need some order on this plane before absolute chaos breaks loose." Shadow stated tiredly, lacking sufficient sleep. "Obviously Tails is the pilot. Sonic, you're navigator since you are the only one that knows where we have to go. I will be the medic even though I have a broken arm. Rouge-"

"You're not getting any service from me until you get this damn bullet out of my wing!" Rouge grunted as she glared at Shadow, she obviously was still exhausted even after she had blacked out for over an hour.

Shadow rolled his eyes at her before kneeling down on one knee to the Rouge sitting cross-legged on the floor. He examined the wound that even after an entire day was still seeping blood, although it was not gushing out like it had done when she was first shot, it was still having a bead of blood coming out every now and then.

"By what I can gather..." Shadow began as he gently handled her injured wing with his good arm and examined it with focused eyes. "The reason why your wing has not stopped bleeding...is because of where it was hit. It seems that the bullet has hit a vein directly, puncturing it and causing it to bleed like any bullet would. However, the bullet is keeping the vein open, causing it to still bleed even several hours after you were shot."

Sonic watched with curious eyes as Shadow was able to pick out all the major facts about her injury, but he was still on the floor like he had been when they had took flight and he was getting pretty annoyed at only being able to see things from the floor.

Shadow could feel Sonics emerald eyes glowing in the moonlight as he stared at him as he worked and he could feel heat rise to his cheeks. _How could just his eyes have such an affect on me?_ Shadow thought dazedly as he made eye contact with Sonic. Sonic was having the same problem as he watched how the white moonlight reflected off of Shadows ruby eyes making them seem soft and almost pink.

"Come on Rouge." Shadow quickly tore his eyes away from Sonics with a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks as he helped his friend off of the floor.

Rouge tried to get up but was way too weak to walk on her own, Shadow helped put her arm around his shoulder and helped her out of the sliding door at a slow pace. They were in the room that they had first entered when they had come onto the plane; there was still a giant hole in the planes' wall where the rusted door had once been.

Last time they had entered the right door to get into the control room of the plane and the pilots quarters, now they were going to try out the left door that none of them had opened yet. Shadow made a gesture to Rouge to tell her to hang on as he unhooked his good arm from Rouges shoulders and opened the door.

The gold, round door knob turned with rather a lot of difficulty, it was obvious that this plane had not been used for decades and all the doors with it. Giving the door a hard nudge with his shoulder the door gave way causing dust to float into the air around them. Rouge coughed as she breathed in the horrid amount that hovered around her, Shadow tried to suppress it as the dust tickled his throat and lungs begging him to cough. What they saw stunned them.

The plane was more like a mobile home. It had sofas, lamps and tables all bolted to the floor of the plane to stop them moving. The outside looked pretty rough, but the inside was spectacular, it had red painted walls, crimson curtains made out of high quality material, red carpets and even the wood was a high quality oak.

Shadow gently placed Rouge down on a red velvet sofa seat with gold armrests; the chair was covered in a thick layer of dust which made Rouge sneeze. Shadow walked around admiring all of the red, red was his favourite colour. He suddenly stopped sight seeing and went off to the many sets of drawers with golden handles, there were about five in a row next to each other with five drawers each and Shadow decided to start on the left and work his way to the right.

"This is one hell of a plane. I mean this is luxury, it's like a palace!" Rouge muttered in awe as she traced the twirl like pattern engraved on one of her golden armrests with a gloved finger, everything that was gold was pure gold, not some painted metal. When she raised her finger she scrunched up her nose in disgust at the amount of dust on it before wiping it on her clothes.

Shadow paid no attention to Rouges mutterings and just continued to open drawer after drawer in the hope of finding something to pluck out the bullet. He had just finished the first set of drawers with a conclusion of nothing and was opening the first drawer on the second. The drawer was higher than he was meaning he could not actually see inside the drawer, he had to reach over on tiptoe to scurry around to find something. His gloved hand suddenly touched something that seemed to be furry. He froze.

"What's the matter!" Rouge sounded alarmed as she saw the shocked look on Shadows face.

Frozen to the spot as he felt the furry thing move around in the drawer and shuddered as it crawled over his hand, Shadow just slowly turned his head to Rouge with a pale face.

"I hope you like spiders?" Shadow asked with a slightly frightened tone, afraid to move his hand out in case of bringing the creature with it.

"I'm ok with them, I think they are cute." Rouge answered as she relaxed and then cocked an eyebrow as she questioned. "Why?"

"Because, judging by its size and texture, there is a tarantula in this drawer." Shadow physically shuddered as he felt the creatures legs crawl over the bare skin above his glove lining.

Rouges eyes widened before she suddenly started smirking at him.

"Don't tell me, the ultimate life-form is afraid of spiders." It was more of a statement rather than a question. It was confirmed when he shuddered again still frozen to the spot, all traces of exhaustion gone.

Rouge couldn't help but laugh at her usually fearless and ferocious friend who was squirming at the feel of a spider. She got up and briskly walked over to him, also going on tip toe she raised her hand into the dusty wooden drawer to surely enough feel the eight legged creature.

"God he is huge," She agreed as she managed to grasp the creature. "I've got him."

Shadow immediately and faster than he had ever moved before extracted his hand from the drawer and backed away with wide eyes as Rouge put her other hand in there and brought out the black and brown creature in her clasped hands.

"Get rid of it!" Shadow yelled as he backed up against the wall as Rouge came closer to him ready to tease him with the spider.

"Oh come on Shadow look at him." Rouge sniggered as he immediately and sharply turned his head away, his face getting considerably paler.

"NO! GET RID OF IT!"

"Fine, I would normally through them out of the window in my house but I can't here. We are in a plane above the ocean, it will drown." She said in pity as she stroked the furry creature.

"Good! It will go to hell!" Shadow was starting to sound like his normal vicious self like he was in the past. "You are enjoying this aren't you?"

Rouge gave a small laugh as she approached the drawer that the tarantula had come from and put it back in. She gave her hands a rub off on her clothes before shutting the drawer and the creature inside.

"Tell anyone what just happened here and I will hunt you down!" Shadow snarled, his face starting to get a little bit more colour back seeing the spider gone. "You are searching the rest drawers."

"Why? Afraid of finding more furry surprises?" Rouge chuckled as Shadow growled and sat down on her chair cradling his broken arm in its sling. Rouge knew that Shadow was serious about hunting her down, he always did what he said and he never bluffed about anything.

With pure exhaustion pulling her down she quickly browsed through each drawer in turn until she got to the forth set of drawers and found the third drawer to be filled with sewing equipment, the only drawer so far to actually have something in it. To her luck there was also beauty stuff in there including a pair of tweezers. With a look of smug success she walked over to Shadow and held them out to him. He snatched them, obviously still pissed off with Rouge for teasing him.

"Don't move." He demanded coldly, his old mental barriers coming back into action from being humiliated.

Rouge could sense the hedgehog's anger building up from the embarrassing display he showed earlier and so did not dare move as she stood in front of Shadow with her back facing him in order to let him reach the wound in her wing.

Shadow sighed in annoyance at letting his small fear be known and with his old emotionless mask back on his face he carefully put the tweezers deep into the wound. Rouge cried out at the metal intruding her wing, it was terribly painful.

"Sorry." There was a hint of sincerity in his voice at hearing the sound of his friend cry out in pain because of him, he may be annoyed but he did not mean to deliberately hurt her. He carried on prodding, being a bit gentler.

"I am almost there." Shadow reassured in a gentle whisper at still seeing her gasp in pain, all traces of being embarrassed and having a hit to his pride gone as he just concentrated on not hurting his friend more than she already was. Rouge smiled at hearing the kinder Shadow back.

"I see it!" Shadow said suddenly, his once white gloves stained red with her blood. "Just give me a minute."

Shadow as slowly as he could, pinched the metal bullet in-between the tweezers. The moonlight from the windows helped him to see as he managed to gently pull it out. _Why didn't I take my gloves off before doing this? _Shadow asked himself irritated; his gloves were ruined beyond repair. The bullet immerged from the bloody wound with a hiss from Rouge as the bullet came into Shadow's view. The wound suddenly started bleeding heavily from having the bullet removed.

"Looks like the wound was very deep and I need to find some sort of bandage to try and stop the bleeding, but there is nothing clean here." Shadow said as he watched the blood drip from the wing.

Shadow gave a sigh before heading to the drawer filled with sewing equipment that Rouge had found. There was no material, just string and thread. He grabbed some white string and came back to Rouge, stripping his gloves off somewhat reluctantly. Rouge widened her eyes as Shadow revealed his bare black and red hands; he struggled getting his left glove off since his right arm was broken.

"They are ruined beyond repair anyway, might as well use them for something more important." Shadow said before placing both of his gloves one on top of the other over her wound and squeezing slightly.

Rouge gave another hiss at the pressure and just watched as Shadow tied the string around her wing and his gloves. The string held the gloves firmly in place, cushioning the wound. She looked from her wound to Shadow's bare hands, the only thing on his wrists were his golden rings making them look like bracelets. She smiled at her friend's generosity. Before they could say anything else though, Sonic came in on a wheelchair.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**this chapter was huge! i had to split it into two, this is obviously number 1, two is next**


	16. Exploring the plane part 2

Exploring the plane: part 2

"Where did you get that?" Rouge asked as she stared at the contraption, pretty sure she had dropped his wheelchair when she had fainted before.

"Tails found one folded up in the pilot's closet, pretty lucky huh?" Sonic replied as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. Shadows bare hands suddenly caught his eye and a pink blush plastered Sonics' face, but before he could ask Shadow had noticed him staring and pointed to Rouges wing.

"Why aren't you navigating with Tails?" Shadow asked exhausted as he tried to stay awake.

"This place is ancient man! They have no automatic pilot, no electronic maps on a screen, just an old globe of the world! I told Tails where to go and he is heading there now, he said I could leave." Sonic replied cockily as Shadow put pressure on his temple from an on coming head ache.

"And where exactly are we going?" Shadow questioned before he sat in a chair with his eyes closed.

"Apotos, but that is a three day journey on this old piece of junk." Sonic shrugged before wheeling closer to the two.

"God, three days with you Faker on this plane." Shadow smirked sarcastically as Sonic gave him evil glares.

"Excuse me, you have been looking after me for over a week now, I don't think three more days is gonna count." Sonic fumed as he watched his black counterpart continue to smirk, the black ones good arm fiddling with his sling.

Rouge just smiled at the two, they definitely would be good lovers seeing the way they argue like they do.

Silence filled the room, all three not feeling awkward at all, just enjoying each others company. Shadow could feel Sonic continue to stare at him and could feel heat rushing to his cheeks, he was sure the other two could see the red slowly creeping into his face. _Why does Sonic have such an affect on me...I like it though, I think Sonic is starting to feel the same way about me. I can dream can't I?_ Shadow thought as he closed his eyes in an attempt to block Sonics beautiful emerald eyes out, Shadow had butterflies in his stomach and a lovely warm feeling was burrowing down in chest making him feel strangely happy at the prospect of Sonic actually liking him.

"Shadow?" Sonic began to ask.

"Hmm." Shadow answered as he opened one eye to look at sonic.

"When we were falling to the ground when Rouge had passed out, you said something to me, but Tails' plane blocked it out. What did you say?"

Shadows cheeks suddenly went cherry red in seconds as he remembered what happened.

"**Sonic!" Shadow called over the rushing winds. Sonic looked at him.**

"**I have been trying to tell you something for almost a week now, and I think this may be the last time I get to say it." Shadows eyes locked onto Sonics as everything in his whole being made him say the magic words.**

"**Sonic...I Love you!**

"It was nothing important." Shadow lied as he averted his gaze from Sonic and suddenly found the wall most interesting. Sonic gave him a suspicious and what also looked like a...disappointed look.

"Well now that my wing is patched up, I am going to be the chef on this plane. But I am still exhausted and I think you guys can find something to eat on your own for now" Rouge groaned as she got off of her seat. "I am going to find a room to sleep in; a plane this huge has got to have at least ten rooms. See ya Huns." With that she left the two alone.

"Shadow, it has been over a week and I seriously need a shower." Sonic yawned as he stretched his arms out.

"You can't have a shower." Shadow stated. "You can't stand."

Realising that this was true he palmed smacked his head in frustration, not noticing Shadow come up behind him and start to push the wheel chair out of the door Rouge had exited from. Sonic gave a shocked yelp as he was pushed through the corridors of what looked like a palace. There seemed to be hundreds of doors down this corridor, all with their own numbers. Of course because Shadow had a broken arm he had to try and steer Sonic with one arm alone and it was difficult.

"At least ten rooms she says, more like hundreds!" Sonic thought aloud as Shadow finally spotted a bathroom.

Getting into the pure white tiled room he left Sonic beside the door and put the plug into the plughole. Next he turned on the hot tap on full blast and felt with his bare hand to see if it was getting hot enough. Sonic remained strangely silent the whole time, watching the water filling up the tub with a strange look in his eyes. Time passed unbeknownst to Sonic and the bath was now over half full. Shadow raised an eyebrow at the others dazed behaviour. He waved a hand in front of Sonics face to try and get his attention, but his eyes were fixed on the water in the tub. Seeing that Sonic was not paying much attention he took off Sonics gloves, shoes and socks and placed them on the floor.

"Sonic." Shadow slightly shouted and the blue hedgehog was brought out of his trance.

"The bath is ready, and it's not my most favourite thing in the world, but I have to put you in." Shadow lied again; he didn't really mind putting him in there really. But Sonic didn't need to know that.

Sonic seemed to tense up as Shadow picked him out of the wheelchair with just his good arm suddenly and was moving towards the finished bath. Sonic began to panic. Shadow paused as the hedgehog in his arms continued to struggle and squirm relentlessly with a look of fear on his face. Shadow just thought it was because he was holding the blue one in his arms again and so continued towards the bath.

Sonics eyes never left the water filling the tub as he began to whimper. He suddenly started squirming harder as he got closer. Shadow was starting to become annoyed and even slightly concerned as Sonic started to whimper louder. Sonic was becoming desperate as Shadow was now right in front of the bath ready to put him in.

"NO PLEASE DON'T!" Sonic suddenly screamed and clung onto Shadows neck for dear life.

"Sonic, I know you don't like me holding you but I am going to let you g-"

"NO DON'T!" Sonic screamed again and Shadow felt Sonics lush blue fur being pushed into his chest as the hedgehog seemed to try and get away from the water. Shadow blushed at this.

"Sonic..." Shadow whispered quietly as he felt his white chest fur become suddenly damp. Sonic was crying into him, afraid of something. "...What's wrong?"

"I-I am a-afraid." Sonics voice was muffled by Shadows chest fur, almost as if he didn't want to look at Shadows face.

"Afraid of what?" Shadows voice was low and gentle as he hesitantly started to stroke Sonics back in what he hoped was a comforting way. He was not used to comforting people and was unused to it. But Sonic was frightened and he wanted to do his best for the one he loved.

"...The water. I am afraid of water. Which is why I have showers and not baths, my phobia kicks in when I see large amounts of water like ponds, lakes...the sea. Just a bath freaks me out." Sonic seemed to have calmed down at seeing Shadow take a couple of steps away from the bath.

Shadow took this in, ignoring the pain of his arm in the sling that Sonic was slightly pressing into; holding the hedgehog in one arm was hard work.

"Well, I have to put you down soon, my bad arm's killing me." Shadow gasped out as he started to stumble a little. Sonic remained completely silent.

"Don't worry." Shadow whispered gently as he approached the bath again and Sonic immediately started to panic. "I am here, nothing will happen."

Sonic felt his cheeks blush again at Shadows words but his eyes were fixed on the water that was now below him. Shadow very slowly began to lower him down into the bath. Sonic dug his bare fingers into Shadows head quills causing Shadow to shudder at being touched there.

"WAIT! NO!" Sonic slammed his eyes shut tight as he felt the water flow over his not working legs. Then he felt the warm water at his waist. He started to panic as it rose up to his shoulders.

Shadow was uttering words of reassurance the entire time as he felt Sonic trembling involuntarily in his arms, his trembling getting worse the more he lowered him down into the water. Sonic felt the water stop rising and slowly cracked an eye open to see that he was fully in the water, the water at the base of his neck and flowing smoothly through his head quills. Sonic opened his eyes fully as he felt Shadows arm disappear from under him and heard the small splash as he raised it from the water.

"You won't leave?" Sonic asked shakily, mentally hitting himself for being so pathetic and weak ever since he became disabled, he just wanted to be his normal fearless self again.

Shadow simply shook his head and sat down on a wooden chair next to the bath as he watched Sonic. Sonic was very stiff and tense, anyone could see that he was completely rigid as he looked in fear at the water surrounding him. His ears were pressed against his head showing that he was very nervous as the water lapped against the white bath walls.

After about seven minutes it seemed that the heat of the bath slowly started to make Sonic relax, his ears had risen back to normal and his eyes were glazed over slightly from relaxation. Shadow just watched as he cradled his broken arm, just watched as Sonic relaxed into the warmth. Steam had filled the room making it slightly hard to see.

"Are you alright?" Shadow asked with tiredness evident in his voice.

"Hmm." Sonic murmured a yes, too relaxed to bother. "You don't get this feeling when you are in the shower."

Shadow could not help but smile, luckily the steam stopped Sonic from seeing it. Shadow had admitted to himself long ago that he was not ashamed of being gay, he was not ashamed of what people would think and he was especially not ashamed of Sonic being the one he truly wanted.

Shadow snapped out of his trance to grab the soap and a white flannel from the sink beside him, he rinsed the flannel under the sink tap to get all of the dust off of it before he put it into Sonics bath water and the soap next to him.

"You clean everything you can; I will clean your legs." Shadows face went beetroot red at just how awkward that sounded, but once again to his luck the steam hid his face.

Sonic did not seem to be fazed by this somewhat awkward question; he was too relaxed to care much. He just grabbed the flannel in the water around him and got to work, almost as if he had forgotten Shadow was there as he lathered his soft fur with soap. Shadow had to force his eyes away from Sonic to look at the small round window of the bathroom, the black starry sky visible through the circular plane window.

"Done."

Shadow turned back to Sonic who had quickly washed himself and rinsed the soap suds off of him, his blue fur shining in the moonlight. Shadow took a deep breath trying to steady himself before taking the flannel still covered in soap in his good arm and he used the one in the sling by lowering over the bath and taking a hold of one of Sonics legs in his hand.

Sonic jumped at the contact, but relaxed almost immediately as he felt Shadow work the flannel on his feet first. Every now and then feeling Shadows fingers touch his blue leg fur. He was starting to think that he was enjoying Shadow doing this way too much. So much in fact that he didn't realise that he was releasing small, soft purrs as Shadow went higher up his leg as he cleaned. Shadow noticed this and blushed slightly, but decided not to say anything.

_Maybe Sonic...does have feelings for me_, Shadow thought to himself as he tried to stop his eyes from lingering as much as possible. _God Shadow if only you knew that I had a crush on you and what blissful torture you are putting me through right now_, Sonic thought as he tried to keep his eyes closed.

Shadow had now done both legs resulting in his material sling being completely soaked. Sonics legs went beneath the hot water again and he let out one final soft purr as the warmth enveloped them. Shadow sat back and admired Sonics blue fur as it swayed in the water.

Sonic was too relaxed to notice but from his unmoveable bottom half...one of his toes started to twitch.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**Awww, i thought this chapter was kinda cute, i am not used to doing fluff. hope you liked this chapter and please review, i love getting them.**


	17. Silvers special mind power

Silvers special mind power

"Whose idea was this, who ever it was I am going to kill them." Blaze growled in frustration in the cargo unit, Silver just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, Blaze, to be honest that would be committing suicide. This was your idea."

Blaze snorted at her photographer who was taking photos of the cargo unit, the whole place was filled with extremely dusty wooden crates and decomposing cardboard boxes. Even though the cargo unit was filled with all of this there was absolutely nothing of importance. It was very dark in the cargo unit and Blaze had ignited a small ball of flame in her hand to help the two see, the orange light dancing off of her red spectacles as she explored.

"We need to know how long we are going to be in here, use your powers Silver." Blaze ordered as Silver stopped flashing his camera and gave her a look of disbelief.

"But _that_ power takes a hell of a lot of mental energy, and you know what will happen if I don't have enough energy to transfer back." Silver said with a look of worry on his face at remembering the horrid incident.

"I know," Blaze said gently. "But it's all we've got."

Silence filled the room with Silver just staring at blazes eyes being reluctant to use the new ability he had only learned a couple of years ago. Blaze just stared back, waiting for Silver to do it, obviously not going to change her mind.

Silver gave a shaky sigh before sitting down cross legged on the floor, his eyes closed as he held out his hands as fists in front of him. A relaxing blue glow enveloped Silver as in his minds eye he felt his soul being taken from his body. His surroundings became fuzzy as he felt his soul passing through the cold metal walls of the plane, his body now left behind. Silvers body suddenly collapsed from its sitting position in the cargo unit, his soul obviously released. Blaze looked at the soulless body with worried eyes.

His soul passed at lightning speed through the metal walls and the wires that were laced around inside of them._ I need to find a small body to possess, like a mouse or a rat_, Silver thought as he avoided all of the coloured wires.

Suddenly a muffled sound could be heard behind the wall that he was inside of. _That sounds like them, now to find a body;_ Silver focused his mental energy so that his mind could sense things beyond the wall. Rouge, Shadow and Sonic were all sitting in luxury chairs in what looked like a palace, however Silver could also sense another thing in the room, a spider in one of the sets of drawers. _Perfect!_ Silver thought with success as his soul suddenly bolted through the wall like lightning and quickly possessed the tarantula in the drawer.

The creature screeched out in pain as its own soul was pushed back to the darkest depths of its mind as Silver took over.

xxxx

"What was that?" Sonic asked as he heard some sort of small squeaky scream.

"I didn't hear anything." Shadow lied, his sensitive ears easily picked up the small screech coming from the tarantula drawer. _Maybe it's finally dying from starvation, good! _Shadow thought with a smirk as he cradled his broken arm.

xxxx

Silver was exhausted; he had used an awful lot of mental energy to get this far and even more to possess a body that was not his. A pain filled his mind at the lack of energy as he tried to get used to having eight legs instead of two, it did not help that the tarantula had obviously not eaten for a while and was suffering from starvation. _Poor thing,_ Silver thought with sympathy as he finally managed to adjust to his hosts' body. _He has be- no wait it's a GIRL, I am in a female tarantula! _Silver shouted and cringed as it hurt his mind. _Oh well, she has been locked up in a drawer for goodness knows how long, I am lucky she's alive...but she won't be for long at this rate. _

The muffled voices he had heard earlier were a lot clearer now and he listened intently as he tried to pick out information that he needed.

xxxx

"We are heading to Apotos, but that is not actually where we are heading," Sonic spoke as he fiddled with his glove, every time he looked at Shadow he blushed, the memory of the bath last night still fresh in his mind. "We are actually heading for a small village in a birch tree forest, like when I told you about my past, I ran through a birch tree forest. But the plane can't land there so Apotos is the closest option."

"Hmm," Shadow agreed before turning to Rouge. "How is your wing doing, better?"

"Yeah, thanks Hun. Although I do still get a bit faint, it will take a while for my blood to recover." Rouge answered as she gave her signature seductive wink, Shadow was used to it by now.

The three conversed themselves in conversation as grey clouds covered the morning sun, the grandfather clock that lay in the corner ticked away showing that it was 11:43am. The old palace like room was becoming the main room of the plane, being the place where all three would meet up. The reds of room contrasted nicely with the gold in the dim light.

"Tails must be exhausted, he is the one that has to pilot this plane and he flew all night. He said that we have another two days until we reach the Apotos sea borders." Sonic shrugged his shoulders as he relaxed into the red cushions of his chair.

"I am getting sick of this!" Both hedgehogs turned to the fuming bat that was rubbing her dust covered gloves on her clothes. "We are cleaning this! We have two days; we can do this room in one!"

xxxx

Silver widened his spider's eyes as he heard the noise of chairs moving and wheels being pushed away, he had got what he needed. _Right, now to transfer my soul back_, Silver thought as he focused his mental energy to try and exit the spider.

Suddenly a cold spark hit his mind shutting off his link to his own body. Silvers mind went blank, he couldn't sense anything! With panic filling his thoughts he tried to focus more mental energy from his telekinesis, but its results were the same.

_Shit_, Silver thought frozen to the spot, _the same thing has happened again, I am stuck in a different body! _

xxxx

Blaze paced up and down the cargo unit impatiently, every so often whipping around to look at Silvers still unconscious body. She had paced so much that where there had been dust on the floor it was completely clear from her shoes continuing to walk over it.

"For heavens sake Silver where are you?" Blazes' voice was so desperate that it cracked, tears starting to form in her usually calm eyes.

She paused as she looked at Silver laying on the floor one more time before starting to pace again, more briskly this time.

xxxx

"Sonic, you cant!" Rouge squealed as Sonic snatched the duster from Rouge. "Sonic you will have trouble, jus-"

"NO!" Sonic shouted, his eyes swimming in determination and Shadow secretly smiled knowing that Sonic would not let it go. "I will not let this condition keep bringing me down!"

Shadow had to admit that Sonic had a determined soul; sure he let Shadow do some things now unlike in the past when he wouldn't even let him get a bottle of milk from the fridge for him. But he still was stubborn and insisted that he could do things that he physically couldn't. He was more open to Shadow now and Shadow could sense that Sonic was a lot more comfortable around him than he used to be. It made him happy to know that there was progress between them, though he didn't know exactly what progress.

Sonic just ignored Rouge rambling on about him not being capable as he wheeled himself off back into what they now referred to as the meeting room, not looking back with an air of determination surrounding him.

"God he is stubborn," Shadow said before grabbing a vacuum cleaner from the cleaning closet they had found. He jerked forward as he felt Rouge nudge his shoulder with her elbow with a small laugh.

"Yeah, but you like that about him don't ya." Rouge smirked as Shadows face went slightly pink before also ignoring Rouge and following after Sonic. Rouges smile faltered as she bowed her head, _will he ever fully confess._

xxxx

_Come on! _Silver thought as he put one of the tarantula's furry black and brown legs up into the small crack of the top of the drawer, managing to get it into it but nothing more. He mentally growled at the spider's body before slamming the female tarantula against the side of drawer, the drawer was quite loosely bonded and after about five full blown body slams the crack of light grew as the drawer opened up more.

The tarantula's soul that had been pushed into the darkest crevices of her own mind protested as her body was too weak for the rough treatment. Silver apologised to her with his thoughts and she calmed down. The soul transferring technique that Silver had developed not only pushed his soul into another's body, but also merged his mind with his hosts as well allowing him to actually communicate with his host.

Although he could only do the soul transfer with small animals most of his other hosts in the past had fought back relentlessly, all trying to pry his soul away. However the female tarantula was not fighting back at all, in fact she was cooperating with him. _Maybe she is too weak to protest,_ Silver thought in pity as he forced himself to get used to walking with eight legs.

He suddenly felt a gentle tug at the back of his mind, the tarantula was asking for control. Silver hesitantly accepted and let his own soul be pushed into the darkness of her mind. The tarantula was still at first before expertly climbing the side of the draw with her legs and climbing into the light of the room. The room was empty but there were sounds of footsteps coming.

_Be careful, if they spot you goodness knows what will happen_, Silver told her and strangely enough, as if she understood, she quickly scaled down the drawers, avoiding the golden handles that looked so large to Silver and hid underneath the closest red sofa. Being a spider was odd to Silver, but what was even odder was that the spider actually understood him; most of his hosts ignored him completely or didn't understand.

The sound of a door opening and the sounds of Rouge trying to persuade Sonic to not clean filled the room. Large white boots passed the sofa as Rouge started cleaning a wooden table with a cloth; the boots were enormous to Silver and under the sofa was more like a large cave, his perspective of things when he possessed smaller creatures was indescribable...almost frightening.

A single step could squish the spider considering the boot looked so large. The dust that covered the floor that is normally microscopic to Silver looked like grains of sand. What would have been a normal sized room now had a horizon that separated the floor from the wall. Everything was gigantic, and it scared Silver.

The three that had entered the room had left the door open and they had to get to it. The tarantula was feeling unsure what to do and started to prod Silver for guidance, but only gently considering she was still unsure of the voice in her head that could take over her body.

_Don't worry, just dodge and try to make your way to the door unseen, _Silver reassured and the spider gave way and let Silver take over. Silver mentally groaned as he found himself trying to adjust to eight legs once more.

Suddenly what looked like a wheel from a wheelchair rolled past them, the rusty silver frame as large as a ferris-wheel and sand like dust clinging to the metal. The spider inside the back of her mind recoiled in fear and Silver tried to reassure her and encourage her to let him go on. Still feeling frightened she let him keep control as they set off.

The black and brown fur was like a blur as Silver finally managed to get the hang of moving the eight legs in a rhythm, the tarantula herself warning Silver of the black and red giant that had wanted to kill her. Hearing this he kept well away from Shadow who she was obviously talking about.

Using the eight eyes he could scan the entire room with out actually turning around, every eye looked at a different direction allowing him to see 360 degrees around him. This helped a lot when he made sure that none of the three in the room were looking in their direction. As fast as the eight legs would carry him he sped off and managed to hide underneath a one seat sofa, now nearer to the open door.

But underneath this chair were dead flies lying with their legs in the air, and the starving tarantula felt the hunger of her body take over. Without a warning she threw Silver to the back of her mind, desperate to eat. Silver felt himself being roughly torn out of control and looked away as the tarantula ate her fill, the mere idea of eating flies making his stomach churn.

She ate three whole flies, almost forgetting the other soul sharing her body. Feeling full she felt her energy starting to return and Silver thought that maybe now she would resist his soul. But strangely enough she did not even try to throw him out, instead she asked him to take over again. If Silver was in his own body he would have blinked in surprise at her pure willingness to let him take over.

As he took control he felt that sure enough she had regained some energy and felt refreshed as he waited in the darkness under the chair for Shadow to pass with the vacuum cleaner. The loud sound and the strong sucking sensation of the vacuum cleaner pulling the spider slightly terrified the female tarantulas' soul to no end as she trusted the strange intruder in her mind to guide her to safety.

Waiting until Shadow was out of sight he rushed towards the door and out into the corridor, not stopping until he found a shady area to hide in. The tarantula's soul relaxed at being away from what to her was a terrifying situation and Silver mentally smiled at her for her bravery, for something no bigger than his hand she was very courageous.

_That was very brave of you; do you know how to get to the cargo unit?_ Silver asked, not knowing the way at all. The spider nodded and looked up to an air vent above them, obviously being a spider meant that she got around differently.

_I can't get up there,_ Silver said as he stared up at what looked like a skyscraper of a wall. She took over and demonstrated the power of being a spider. First she put one leg against the wall, it stuck firmly. Then she put another and another and before Silver knew it the tarantula was walking up the metal wall using the small furry hooks on the bottom of her legs.

Silver gasped as she scaled the smooth wall with ease and got into the vent. From that point on he trusted her to take control when he needed it and she trusted him to take control when she needed it. The two were team.

xxxx

It was now getting late in the afternoon with rain pounding against the plane windows and Rouge had finished cleaning all of the smooth surfaces, each golden armrest polished to perfection and showing her reflection. Shadow had finished vacuum cleaning the room, even though he only had one arm to do it with. Sonic had finished dusting and the whole room looked spick and span, no dust was anywhere, Shadow had even sucked up the dust on the curtains and Rouge had polished the windows. The whole place looked brand new.

Rouge noticed something different about the drawers, Sonic was arguing with Shadow behind her too busy to notice. She walked over and realised that a drawer was halfway open. The tarantula gone. She slowly shut the drawer and acted as normal, thinking it was better that Shadow didn't know.

"Attention passengers," Tails exhausted voice came over the intercom. "It seems that we are entering a storm cloud, everyone get secured somewhere, this is going to be a bumpy ride."

**END OF CHAPTER**

**OH MY GOD, i think that turned out quite well, a lot better than i expected, i am chuffed. Hope you guys liked the small twist.**


	18. A rather horrid surprise

A rather horrid surprise

Black clouds surrounded the plane as bright lightning tore the sky, the rain coming down like a waterfall as the thunder rumbled throughout the skies. The plane shook from the force of the thunder being so close, rocking the three on board in the meeting room.

Sonic had been taken from his wheelchair and strapped into a seat as his wheelchair kept rolling away because of the persistent rocking. Shadow was next to him on his right and Rouge on his left.

The plane creaked menacingly as it was forced through the horrid weather. Darkness enveloped the plane as they fully entered the black cloud of the storm. Bright flashes illuminated the room and the thunder continued to loudly pound in their skulls. The rushing winds pushing against the rusty plane and the sea raging down below.

"I hope Tails can cope with this!" Sonic shouted over the thunder as he gripped the armrests of his seat tighter.

xxxx

_It sounds like a storm has hit,_ Silver thought within the tarantula, the spider mentally agreeing with the other soul that resided within her mind. The giant air vent that looked like a giant tunnel to Silver was shaking from the force of the deadly gale brewing outside, occasionally causing the still weak spiders body to be thrown off course.

At the moment she was in control as she led the way to the cargo unit and also to Silvers friend Blaze. There was a dim light from the electronic lights below as they passed over grates of other exits that revealed the metal corridors under them.

She took a right turn as she went down a completely dark part of the air vent tunnel, Silver felt slightly uneasy as she continued into the darkness. However her spider eyes were made for the dark and Silver could see everything as clear as if there was light,_ I think spiders are quite good bodies to possess_, Silver commented and he swore he heard her mentally chuckle in approval.

Silver focused his mental energy again, just managing to sense that his body was just that little bit closer. His mental energy also helped him to sense his way around the air vent tunnels and his souls eyes snapped open. This was not just an air vent tunnel, this was a labyrinth.

The huge plane had a giant and complicated network of air vent systems, it had thousands maybe millions of tunnels and even more exits into different parts of the plane. But even though this air vent system was vast it seemed the spider knew where she was going, obviously living on this plane for a long time.

Still feeling uncertain he just let her continue as she crawled over another grate that let light shine into the vent showing the dust particles that floated in the air around them. She took a peek with her eight, black, beady eyes through the holes of the grate, made a mental note of the corridor and continued down the air vent tunnel, this time taking a left turn at the next corner.

Now Silver could hear the rain pounding on the metal wall outside, they were near the outer walls of the plane. Thunder boomed around them as it echoed down the smooth steel walls of the tunnels making it vibrate and making her sometimes lose her balance.

Then everything went deadly quiet. The only sound was the rain pounding on the plane. The spider froze as she sensed something. Amidst the darkness that even she could not see through something stirred. Silver also froze feeling her sudden change, paralyzed inside her mind as the two looked into the deep darkness.

Suddenly, two dangerous red eyes appeared.

Xxxx

"Shit!" Shadow cursed as he was thrown about. He had left his seat to go and check on Tails.

His broken arm kept hitting the wall and he hissed in pain as he slowly but surely made his way to the control room. Opening the door he found Tails struggling at the wheel and through the glass window...the black clouds were getting worse.

Xxxx

The red eyes blinked and the tarantula did not dare move. The eyes were staring...waiting_. What do we do now?_ Silver asked nervously as he kept his eyes on the red orbs staring right at them. Suddenly a hungry growl filled the air. The tarantula held firm not wanting to move until the time was right. The eyes grew bigger. Fangs slowly dripped slobber. A large tail came into view. A large brown rat was stalking towards them.

The rat was enormous! To Silver it looked like a giant bear, but of course he was a spider so the small rat looked ten times its normal size. The slobber fell with sickening plops onto the floor. Its revolting breath smelt of dead animals. Its red eyes filled with murderous and hungry intent.

As it got closer its large filthy claws could be seen as they scratched the floor. The tarantula felt fear consume her and froze to the spot as it approached slowly, ready to strike.

_Don't just stand there, RUN! _Silver shouted frantically in her mind and she snapped out of her trance. The rat attacked!

Getting her legs to move she ducked under the rat that had pounced with a battle cry screech and ran at top speed into the darkness that the rat had emerged from. She dared not look back at hearing the rat scurry after her as it gave chase.

_We have to lose it!_ Silver said as he used what mental energy he had left to keep track on the rat that was approaching fast. Suddenly they came to another grate and she did not hesitate in escaping. Squeezing herself through the gaps in the grate she managed to force herself through. There was a clang as the rat hit the grate head on, its claws desperately trying to get through. The spider looked up at the fowl creature; it had its snout sticking out of the grate with a snarling mouth, its claws wrapped around the grate bars and its tail dangling down through another grate hole as it glared at her. Seeing that it was useless the starving rat reluctantly turned away and scurried off, its tail being that last thing seen.

They had landed in a corridor filled with cardboard boxes and the spider relaxed at being away from the danger, she walked with shaky legs down the corridor and to Silvers surprise she was heading towards another grate on the wall near the floor. This grate was a lot smaller than the others and had an orange glow coming from it.

When she got there Silver would have jumped for joy if he was not in a spider's body. There, through the grate, he saw Blaze pacing up and down below with a flame in her hand in the cargo unit.

xxxx

Blaze stumbled over as the plane continued to rock as it fought the deadly weather, her concern for her partner out ruling the need to get her story in for her boss. Silvers body was still unconscious on the floor waiting for his soul to return.

Her story would be late, but she was determined to get the story about Sonic and that beast, she needed to. But her partner had not returned and she was getting unbelievably worried.

She paused as she heard something. She turned around and found nothing there; she swore she heard a tapping sound. The sound came again.

"Silver..." She asked timidly her ears against her head in fear. The tap came again.

Blaze looked up through her red spectacles and saw something peeking through a small grate at the top of the room...something small and furry.

"A tarantula..." Blaze cocked an eyebrow as she watched the spider tap the metal grate with its leg. She remained still for a while before she widened her eyes and finally realised. "SILVER!"

xxxx

Shadow attempted to help the over exhausted fox that had been flying for two whole days and nights straight with not a wink of sleep. He held onto the wheel with his good arm as he tried to get the plane steady, the strong gales were pushing the plane off course.

"We need to head for the middle!" Shadow shouted over the rushing winds outside as he gripped the wheel with his bare hand tightly, his gloves still on Rouges wing. Without his gloves his bare skin was causing friction on the metal wheel making his hand burn.

"We need to head for the eye of the storm!"

Lightning suddenly struck the airborne plane. Everything crackled and sparked before the lights exploded. Everything went black.

Xxxx

Blaze leapt up onto a dusty wooden crate as she made herself eye level with the black and brown tarantula by putting herself on tiptoe, her beautiful topaz eyes making eye contact to the spiders black beady ones. The spider's soul recoiled at the burning embers in Blazes hand but Silver reassured her and took control before tapping the metal grate to ask for it to be opened.

Blaze understood immediately and wrapped her gloved fingers around the bars. She used all her strength and tugged, but it didn't budge. With a look of frustration on her face she pulled and pulled but the grating refused to move. After about half a minute of pulling she pulled away panting, her purple tail swishing with agitation.

"Move back." Blaze demanded and Silver moved the spider's body to a safe distance.

The ball of flame that was still in her hand started to burn brighter, her topaz eyes shining in flames as she thrust her palm to the metal grating. She pushed her powers to make it hotter and hotter until the entire room felt like a volcano. The metal grating was now turning orange from the extreme heat and pressure, its structure softening and weakening. Turning around she did a powerful roundhouse kick, the soft grating smashed as her shoe pierced it effortlessly.

_What? No! I mean I suppose I may have feelings for her_, Silver said shyly as the spider questioned his part of mind if he was attracted to the impressive cat since Silver had accidently let a small sliver of a warm emotion slip through.

"Hurry up Silver!" Blaze ordered impatiently as she held another small flame in her hand, the only light since all the power had suddenly disappeared.

_See, how can I like her? She is so bossy_, Silver retorted stubbornly when the curious tarantula soul continued to prod him, this answer made the tarantula at the back of her mind roll her eyes as if to say `yeah, but you see past all that which is why you like her. ` Silvers soul palm smacked his forehead at him having this kind of conversation with a spider.

He got used to eight legs again and went through the still slightly orange and smoking rim of what was the grating, however he was still not used to the idea of climbing up and down walls and so the tarantula decided to take control again for the last time who easily scaled the wall and crawled onto the dust covered crate.

Now that silver was closer to his body he could use his mental energy to transfer his soul back. _Bye...sorry for all I put you through_, Silver said with the deepest sympathy before charging his energy, the spider said that he had saved her and so it did not matter however she did not understand what exactly was going on.

Suddenly Silvers body began to glow blue and like a lightning bolt his soul separated from her, she screeched in pain as his soul was ripped out of her draining what ever energy she had left.

His soul dashed across the room and re-entered his body lying on the cold floor. His eyes slowly fluttered open as a blurred Blaze kneeled down next to him, his hearing was all weird and when Blaze said his name it sounded like it had an echo, his whole body was numb from misuse and he slowly twitched his fingers as he tried to move.

The spider was now painfully aware that her mind was indeed alone again; the strange voice in her head had disappeared. In panic she ran and hid using her normal spider instincts.

Blaze, who had had enough of the dopey Silver grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him violently now screaming his name in annoyance.

Like a machine with wires his soul attached itself back inside his body fully making him function, his dazed eyes became alert and his muscles moved as he sat up clutching his head in pain. Blaze let go of his shoulders, afraid that she had actually hurt him. But when he smiled and she realised it was not her she started shaking his shoulders again even more viciously.

"WHY ARE YOU SMILING?" She screamed. "YOU HAD ME WORRIED SICK!"


	19. Struggling to survive

Struggling to survive

The storm continued to rattle the plane with Sonic and Rouge being stuck in the meeting room strapped to the chairs. Rouge screamed as the plane went onto its side so that they could see the windows below them. Suddenly one of the other chairs around them broke loose from its rusty bonds to the floor; there was a frightening sound of snapping metal before the chair plummeted towards the windows. The chair scraped across the diagonal floor towards the windows at top speed and the sound of shattering glass filled the air as a golden armrest went straight through. Glass shards clinked on the floor and the blustery breezes outside blew into the room, the curtains swaying wildly against the gale.

Sonics spikes swayed madly in the unbearable gale as he shut his eyes against the wind, he was so frightened that he didn't realise that from his unmoveable bottom half his feet twitched from panic. Since the plane was on its side he could see the raging sea below them and it frightened him to no end since his chairs metal bonds to floor could also break at any time.

A shrill scream filled the air as the sickening sound of metal snapping filled Sonics ears. Rouges bonds had broke first! Her chair started sliding towards the window as she desperately tried to release herself from the straps. She looked at Sonic with wide eyes; she couldn't fly with a bound up wing.

Sonic also widened his eyes as he also tried to undo his straps, in the dire situation he didn't realise his unmoveable legs starting to shake from fear and twitch with anxiety. A click was heard as he managed to undo his straps, regretting it immediately as his body was thrown towards the windows.

Rouges chair hit the wall propelling her forwards. Another window smashed as she was thrown through screaming and started falling towards the waves below.

Sonics face went from afraid to determined as he saw one of his friends in need, he reached out his hand as his body fell towards the shattered window. Lightning flashed through the darkness as Sonic managed to grab Rouges wrist just in time. Sonic squinted through the treacherous winds as he grabbed the edge of the window with his other hand to stop them falling. He cried out in pain as his hand clutched around a sharp piece of glass still stuck in the window frame, its razor edge easily cutting his glove and piercing his flesh. Crimson blood trickled down the metal frame and dripped into the ocean below.

"Don't let go." Rouge begged as she realised that Sonic had stopped her plunging to her death and stared at him with pleading eyes.

"I-I w-won't!" Sonic gasped from the pain in his hand as he shut his eyes tight against the heavy rain and the blustery winds, his spikes flying around madly as his eyes watered.

If his legs worked properly he could easily get them back in, but he couldn't move them and a feeling of dread and hopelessness filled his heart. He opened one eye a crack as he made eye contact with Rouge swinging from his grasp, she was crying with her ears against her head as she panicked.

"OH NO!" She suddenly screamed as she desperately tried to reach for something falling out of her pocket. Something blue and shiny was slowly sliding out. The crystal key was going to be lost!

"What is that?" Sonic yelled over the winds.

"It's a key to something in your old house!" She cried back as her hand could not quite reach the crystal as it tipped even more out of her pocket. "It's the reason why we are going there!"

Sonic narrowed his eyes at seeing the crystal,_ I swear I have seen that before...but I can't remember. _Thunder boomed through the skies as the plane kept rocking making the glass shard dig into his hand even more, he hissed out in pain as he could feel the blood flowing out faster. Sonic felt his heart pound as they both dangled helplessly above his worst fear.

The glowing crystal sparkled beautifully in the white lightning as it slipped from the confines of her pocket. On instinct Rouge thrust her hand out towards it as it started to fall. Her pink lipstick covered lips letting out a gasp as her fingers touched the smooth edges. Her fingers enclosed around empty air as the crystal fell.

"NO!" Rouge started squirming in Sonics grasp making his pierced hand hurt even more. Her weight making the glass shard dig in even deeper. He screamed in pain as Rouge forced him to let go.

Sonics arm was still outstretched towards her as she dived for the glowing crystal. Her eyes watered from the force as her body pushed through the heavy rain. Sea spray hit her as she got closer and she thrust her arm out towards the crystal. This time managing to grab it. Rouge clutched it to her chest and shut her eyes tight as she prepared to hit the waves...but the waves never came.

Xxxx

"HELP!" Blaze screamed as the unbolted wooden crates in the inescapable cargo unit kept sliding towards her, the plane being turned onto its side also affecting them.

Silver had managed to get used to having two legs again and growled as he used his telekinesis to hold all the crates back against the furthest wall, sweat dripping from his brow at over exerting himself after just using his soul transfer technique. Blaze had the flame still in her hand as there was still no power on board the plane after it had been struck by lightning, they were lucky the plane didn't explode!

"Blaze...I can't..." Silver struggled to speak as his powers were pushed to there limit as the weight of the crates started to get the better of him. They slowly started to slide towards them as dust flew into the air making it choke the two.

Silvers topaz eyes were filled with concentration as he kept going, the sweat now dripping off of his glowing body as he snarled in frustration.

The plane being on its side meant that the small grate that was on the wall was now below them, still smoking from Blazes inferno attack. Blaze couldn't take the situation anymore and being desperate held her flaming palm against the already broken grate under her. The entire floor started to warm up as an orange glow grew from her palm and expanded around her. Silver looked towards her as he felt the room temperature increase.

Suddenly the floor completely melted and with a cat yowl of shock she fell straight through leaving nothing but a still orange and burning rim of metal. Silver looked at where she had been with worry, the consistent rocking of the plane weakening his concentration on his powers a little. He slowly started making his way towards the hole in the floor that was once the wall and he could see an orange glow coming from it and could hear Blazes' voice calling him from below.

Coming over and getting ready to jump down the still smoking rim he stopped frozen to the spot. He could hear a frightened screeching sound. Turning around sharply he could see the tarantula looking at him with pleading eyes at it screamed for help. But Silvers powers were getting too weak and his grip on the crates broke. The tarantula screeched in panic as some crates broke loose, her weak body from Silvers soul being ripped away not moving at a quick enough speed.

Silver completely let go of his telekinesis as he panted from overuse. All the crates came plummeting down and the tarantula looked at him with fear. Silver quickly scoped her up with what little telekinesis he had left and dashed down the hole with a crate immediately hitting and covering it up with a loud bang afterwards.

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!" Blaze yelled at him with worry evident in her voice.

She froze as she spotted Silvers clasped up hands. He slowly opened them to reveal the black and brown tarantula, still alive but trembling with shock and fear.

"I couldn't let her die." Silver whispered as he stroked her fur to calm her down, the tarantula instantly recognised Silvers voice as being the one in her head before and looked up at him.

"...you're so naive." Blaze couldn't help but smile at the gentle Silver petting the spider, the gentle side that she secretly loved and adored. She lit a flame as they started making their way down the corridor; they were both walking on what was a side of the corridor with them walking over the doors.

Xxxx

Rouges eyes were shut so tightly they could tear as the water that she expected to hit her never came. Her eyes shot open at feeling a pair of arms embrace her and when she looked up it was someone she didn't expect.

"KNUCKLES!" She cried with joy as she held him tighter.

"Don't expect this often bat girl." He snarled as he glided through the air with her in tow.

Sonic sighed in relief and when Knuckles looked at him he gave him his signature thumbs up with his normal cocky smirk. Knuckles flew up to him and grabbed his hand and pulled him inside the plane through the broken window, Sonic crying out as his hands flesh was torn away from the razor sharp glass shard, his glove covered completely in blood.

Knuckles noticed the pained expression and gasped at the blood dripping hand, pulling him up and into the plane he easily pulled both of their weights across the room and laid them against what was the ceiling, the plane being on its side was confusing.

The plane suddenly gave a jolt as it started slowly moving back to normal, what was the floor was becoming the floor once again as the plane righted itself back to position.

The three groaned as their bodies hit the floor, mostly Sonic as he landed on his not working legs.

"I'M NEVER LETTING TAILS FLY A PLANE AGAIN!" Sonic shouted and pouted as Rouge started laughing at him, still in Knuckles arms.

"You can put me down now Hun." Rouge chuckled as she winked seductively at him making Knuckles' face turn redder than his fur at also realising he was still holding her. He practically dropped her to the floor immediately with Rouge giving a surprised yelp. Dropping the crystal on the floor at the same time.

Suddenly everything went calm and light shone through the curtains, the gales stopped, the rain halted and the waves relaxed. Knuckles wondered to the broken window, the glass shards cracking beneath his shoes as he glanced outside. Where they were there was blue skies, but around them a raging black cloud ring still raged. Yet, where they were was so peaceful and calm as the sun shone for the third day of their trip.

"It seems we have reached the eye of the storm."

Xxxx

"The eye of the storm." Shadow gasped out with a smile of success as he leaned on the wheel in exhaustion. He looked over to Tails propped up against a wall fast asleep, him falling asleep had caused the plane to turn on its side and Shadow had tried everything to pry him off of the wheel.

Shadow gasped at the pain in his broken arm as he looked at the calm seas of the eye of the storm, the clear blue sky above them as he suddenly spotted something very small in the distance. Excitement suddenly filled him as he smiled and grabbed the communicator.

"Attention passengers, sorry for the horrid trip, your pilot fell asleep. We are approaching Apotos borders; I repeat we are approaching Apotos borders!"

Xxxx

At hearing Shadows voice over the speakers Sonics heart did a flip. Rouge and Sonic had started cheering with joy at the news and Knuckles just smiled as Rouge and Sonic did a high five in joy. The blue sky above them just adding to the happy situation as the sun shone on their wet fur.

Xxxx

Blaze had stopped down the back to normal corridor as she saw the sun shining through a window, putting her flame out as she listened to Shadows voice over the speakers.

"Thank goodness." She smiled at hearing the news, the storm had lasted a whole day and it was good to hear they would be off of the plane soon. The light reflected off of the lens of her spectacles as her tail slowly swayed in happiness as she listened to the calm sound of the slow waves below.

The spider in Silvers hands had also relaxed at feeling the tension outside settle slightly and inside she thanked Silver for saving her; to her they were a team.

"Why did you save her?" Blaze asked and Silver looked up at her with widened eyes.

"Because she has actually become quite a close friend in the past hours we have spent being in the same body. She didn't fight me, she didn't ignore me like all the others and she understands me. I am going to keep her!"

The whole plane was now calm and happy as they glided through the eye of the storm, all awaiting the much needed landing.


	20. Shadow makes a move

Shadow makes a move

After successfully waking the sleeping fox on the floor of the control room and coaxing him to continue flying again Shadow decided to check on everyone else knowing that absolute chaos had probably broken loose when the plane had gone on its side. Leaving Tails with the wheel once more he left the room, walked across and opened the opposite door with the others behind it. He opened the door to pure hell.

"We have about six more hours until we actually reach the Apotos shore-" Shadow began as he opened the door and froze mid sentence at the destruction.

Glass shards were scattered around the whole room twinkling in the sunlight, about three chairs had their metal bonds broken with one having its golden armrest right through a broken window that was letting in a calm breeze. Two windows were completely shattered with one window having dry blood all down the frame, noticing the blood he quickly looked at everyone in the room. To his surprise and annoyance there was an extra addition to the crew which was Knuckles but he had nothing wrong with him, he turned to Rouge who was sitting cross legged on the floor and also found nothing.

Last of all he looked at Sonic leaning against the wall with his head bowed, he was cradling his hand with pain written all over his face, his glove soaked red from his own blood as it continued to drip onto the floor. Before he could control himself he ran over and kneeled beside him managing to surprise Sonic at the sudden movement.

Sonic looked up at him with pained eyes before looking back at his blood stained hand. Without warning Shadow grabbed it making Sonic cry out in agony at the pierced flesh. Shadow flinched at the cry and mentally smacked himself for being so hasty; it was obvious that Sonic was hurt pretty badly. He gave an apologetic look when Sonic glared at him before handling the injured hand a lot more gently, but he couldn't see it clearly so he had to take Sonics glove off.

Sonic jumped as he felt Shadow grab the rim of his glove and on instinct tore his hand away with wide eyes, he always felt vulnerable with his gloves off. Shadow gave him a stern look at the reaction and went to grab the hand again, but Sonic continued to resist.

"Don't worry; I am just going to have a look." Shadow sighed patiently as he saw the small blush plastered on Sonics face.

Sonic hesitantly gave his hand to Shadow who slowly started working on taking off the glove without hurting the blue one, Sonics blush turned from pink to red as he felt Shadows bare black fingers grace across the skin of his wrist as he worked on taking the glove off causing the hedgehog to get shivers down his spine.

Sonic tried to distract himself so just stared at Shadows golden rings still attached to his wrists, they were shiny and sparkled in the light and looked good against his black and red fur. This thought just made him blush harder_, I need to get my thoughts off of him_. Unfortunately the moment made him forget that there were two others in the room that could see his blush, Rouge gave Sonic small smiles where as Knuckles was completely confused.

Shadow had managed to get the glove off and grimaced at the sight of the hole in the hand, it was very deep, in fact it was almost all the way through to the other side. Shadow narrowed his eyes at the wound, all the time thinking it was his fault since he wasn't there to help him. Sonic cocked his head to the side as he watched Shadow look at his wound in what looked like regret.

"Hey, it isn't your fault man, chill. It was an accident," Sonic turned back to his normal cocky self as he smirked at Shadow. "Besides, you weren't there so it definitely-"

"That's exactly the point." He interrupted coldly making Sonic shiver at the icy edge to his voice. "I wasn't there...to protect you."

Rouge nudged Knuckles with her elbow causing the other to growl, when Knuckles didn't react immediately she just grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room wanting the two hedgehogs to have some privacy. Knuckles was going to retaliate but when he saw the horrid glint in Rouges eyes he shut up immediately. They left the room with Rouge carefully shutting the door so it didn't disturb them.

Shadow suddenly started undoing his sling on his broken arm causing Sonic to protest as his broken arm was released in pain. Holding Sonics hand he started winding the white shirt material around his wrist making sure it was not too tight on the tender gash, Sonic flinched slightly as the material covered the wound and Shadow wrapped it around his thumb.

"It's not perfect," Shadow whispered as he tied a knot to complete the bandage. "But it will do until we reach Apotos."

Sonic just stared at his fixed up hand and then to Shadows limp arm. His face suddenly broke into a genuine smile making Shadow feel all fluttery inside.

"I think its perfect." The words came out before he could stop them and they surprised Sonic too. _You're perfect,_ he thought at the same time as a strange sensation washed over him; he swore that Shadow was not that close to his face a second ago.

Suddenly Sonics mind started pushing him to kiss the black one and Sonic blushed madly at the thought, Shadow didn't like him that way...did he?_ Alright Shadow is definitely loaming closer to me!_ Sonic screamed in his mind as their noses were close enough to brush against each other.

Sonic was actually going to go through with it. He leaned forward a little...just a little more.

"KNUCKLES!"

Both Sonic and Shadow turned away Sharply to see Knuckles strolling in looking very annoyed, they were just about to brush lips but didn't get that far. Shadow stood up looking somewhat disappointed and embarrassed and Sonic noticed the expression, _I wonder, does he really like me...that way._

Rouge also trotted in with an apologetic look before she growled and started having a full blown argument with Knuckles. Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the two as they argued like a married couple.

However Rouge suddenly stopped arguing at noticing something and left Knuckles who fumed at her ignoring him, she rushed over to Shadows broken arm and gently held it, stroking it as he hissed in pain. Knuckles' jaw dropped to the floor at the show of affection to the black hedgehog, his face bright red with fury as she fussed over Shadow.

"Hun, we need to sort that arm out before it ends up being permanently stuck like that." Rouge stated in an overdramatic voice as she gave side glances at Knuckles obviously waiting to see his reaction. Shadow smirked at her and played along.

"And what would you suggest?" he asked smirking, also awaiting the volcanic eruption of Knuckles.

"Well, I could take you into a room where we can be alone to sort-"

"NO!" Knuckles suddenly pulled Rouge off of Shadow obviously severely jealous and shocked at what he had just heard, not knowing that it was all a mind game. Sonic burst into laughter also picking up on the fact that it was all a game, but Knuckles was oblivious as always.

"Stop being down right jealous!" She yelled at a recoiling Knuckles. "Besides I have to sort his arm out anyway whether you like it or not!"

"Not before I have a word with him first!" knuckles demanded as he grabbed Shadows good arm and practically threw him out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Not allowing Rouge to protest.

"What do yo-"

"Back off!" Knuckles snarled at him, interrupting Shadows question.

"Back off wha-"

"YOU KNOW PRETTY DAMN WELL WHAT!" knuckles interrupted again and it was trying Shadows patience.

"I fail to understand what this argument is about." Shadow simply stated closing his eyes, Knuckles' anger overflowed.

"Don't try to act innocent with me! Back off Rou-"

"Gay."

Knuckles froze to the spot half way through his rant; Shadow looked up to make eye contact with the red echidna.

"Wh-what?" knuckles stuttered quietly, not sure he heard him right.

"Gay, I am gay knuckles. Rouge is all yours for all I care." Shadow confessed, turning away hoping that confessing to Knuckles would stop him constantly bugging him about Rouge and even stop him from getting jealous.

Knuckles didn't respond at first not sure what to make of the situation. He bowed his head, not noticing that Shadow had left him there to return to Rouge to fix his arm. _Gay? Who could he possibly like?_ Knuckles pondered, too wrapped up in these thoughts to think about anything else. When he returned back in looking slightly paler than normal from the overloaded thinking he gazed at Sonic on the floor making eye contact with Shadow, emeralds to rubies with Shadows normally emotionless eyes soft with some unknown emotion. Knuckles smiled, _so...that's the way it is, _he thought as he watched Sonic laugh at Shadow who had Rouge fiddling with his arm causing him to curse out in pain every five seconds. _I think I understand why Rouge wanted me to stay out of the room earlier._

Several hours passed with all three doing normal things, Knuckles and Rouge for the first time worked together and helped get the chairs back into position and clean up all the glass. Shadow remained next to Sonic by the wall; his arm fixed and needing a new sling but he was not allowed to do anything with his arm yet. He was not sure if Sonic wanted to get the wheelchair out so he could move around because Knuckles was there. Sonic had obviously read his expression because he shook his head sadly and just watched Knuckles and Rouge work.

"Tails told me to tell you that he lost the Tornado. Apparently when a laser took the wing with you right off the plane circled you for a while before it crashed. Went up into flames and was destroyed with no way of mending it." Shadow relayed the message before he sighed as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"That's too bad, the Tornado meant a lot to Tails. It's what brought us together." Sonic said sadly, copying Shadow and also putting his head against the wall in a relaxed position.

Knuckles kept giving Rouge strange glances and after a while it really started to irritate her, she dropped her side of the chair she was carrying.

"What?" she whispered angrily as Knuckles also dropped his side of the chair uncharacteristically calmly; Rouge raised an eyebrow at this change.

"Did you know about..._them_." He whispered so quietly that Rouge hardly heard it.

"They are not actually together; Shadow is too shy to tell Sonic how he feels." She whispered back, making sure Sonic was not actually looking in their direction.

"Shadow Shy? Get real." He snorted quietly back. "If he was shy he would not have told me that he was gay straight to my face with no sign of being embarrassed or ashamed."

"Confessing that you love someone is very difficult Knuckles, someone like you would never understand."Rouge just shook her head before walking over to the two hedgehogs on the floor together. Knuckles remained still, _your wrong Rouge...I do know how difficult it is._

"Hello passengers," Tails' voice came over the speakers and he paused to let out a large yawn that made Sonic snigger. "We are approaching the shores of Apotos, get ready to land."

**END OF CHAPTER**  
**Ok guys i think that this story is going to be between 25 and 30 chaps long. Some huge stuff happening in next chapters since we are getting ever nearer to the end. I don't think you will be disapointed at the surprises installed for you lot:) Hope you are loving my story and i hope you read to the end. xXSonicgirl582Xx**


	21. First steps into Apotos

First steps into Apotos

The eye of the storm was very large meaning that the storm was way bigger than average, the other side of the rim of black clouds was approaching fast, but Apotos was approaching too and Tails hoped that he would get to Apotos first and not the black swirling rim. He didn't think the old plane could take more extreme conditions so he silently prayed he would not have to go into the storm clouds again.

Knuckles and Rouge had completely tidied the meeting room showing its original palace beauty, the red carpets were vacuum cleaned again and so had the chairs to get rid of any excess small pieces of glass. The chairs had been pushed back to normal and the only thing wrong with the room was that there were two windows completely smashed, they would need new glass panes for that.

"It looks like we will be landing in a minute, we are over the beach," Rouge said excitedly. "Time for a tan!"

"No you don't we still have our mission to do," Shadow smirked at Rouges crestfallen face. "...Maybe I will allow you afterwards."

Rouge squealed at the last part and glomped him. Sonic fell into fits of laughter as Shadow tried to pry the white bat off and snarled small, yet meaningless threats. Knuckles just stood there noticing that Shadow was not really trying but was just playing along like friends would; he didn't get angry as he watched the unusual playful scene with Shadow._ Shadow really has changed; maybe loving Sonic is changing him._

"Everyone, get ready we are coming in to land," Tails' voice boomed over the speakers. "Grab onto something."

"I already have!" Rouge laughed as she gripped Shadow tighter, turning around to give a sly wink to Knuckles.

Shadow now used his full strength at having enough of the little game and easily pried her away; he could have done that earlier but decided otherwise. He held her out at arms length, taking the time to look at his gloves attached to her wing wound by a piece of string. She noticed and just gave a small chuckle.

"Don't worry Hun, my wings recovering fine. I can already move it; I will be flying again in no time."She reassured as she finally stepped away from him giving him back his personal space.

Shadow just nodded in agreement before turning to Sonic and picking him up with just one arm, Sonic yelped at the sudden movement and blushed as he felt that strange prickling sensation at feeling Shadows bare fingers touch him, everywhere Shadow touched left a warm sensation and made him feel light inside. His bandaged hand still hurt immensely, but feeling Shadow holding him made him almost forget about it.

"He can walk Shadow." Knuckles said as he cocked an eyebrow at them.

Sonic immediately looked away sadly, feeling a slight depression fill him, but Shadow squeezed him slightly to reassure him and that made most of the depression disappear.

"No he can't," Rouge said in pity as she grabbed his wheelchair, all traces of being playful disintegrated. "When the beast attacked Soleanna...something happened."

Knuckles' eyes widened as the wheelchair was set up and Shadow placed Sonic in it. Sonic refused to make eye contact with Knuckles feeling that maybe he would laugh at him too like everyone else. But silence filled the room before Knuckles replied.

"I'm sorry." Knuckles said quietly, genuine sympathy laced with his voice.

Sonic looked up at knuckles sharply at the unexpected words, however he did not have time to speak since they all almost fell over as they felt the sands of the beach hit them when they landed. Shadow held onto Sonics wheelchair to stop him from falling, Rouge had braced herself by spreading out her wings and feet to give her more balance; the oblivious Knuckles immediately fell at the jolt of the plane and fell on his backside.

"Smooth move Hun." Rouge chuckled sarcastically as she watched a pride hit Knuckles rise from the floor red faced.

"No one asked you bat girl!" he snapped as he was the first to head for the door to leave.

Shadow and Sonic just looked at each other, Sonic giving Shadow the thumbs up as he wheeled him out of the room. The missing entrance door to the plane revealed beautiful sunlight that sparkled off of the golden sands, the white buildings with the spectacular tropical pink flowers looked stunning ahead of them as some people had left the safety of their buildings to see what was going on. The plane door was high, there was stairs but they had vanished, must have broken off in the storm.

Some young children in shorts and short sleeved tops came running across the sands to have a closer look, some even offered to help as they spotted Sonic in the wheelchair. All the children were between eight and fourteen as they jumped about excitedly at the strange occurrence of a plane turning up on their beach.

Sonic smiled and waved at the strange welcome, wondering why they weren't laughing at him. Shadow got him out of the wheel chair and gave the wheelchair to a child who had her hand up wanting to help, she had ocean blue eyes and lovely long blonde hair tied into a ponytail with a blue hair band with a large plastic blue butterfly on it. She wore a white short sleeved top with sky blue shorts. Shadow seemed to freeze; the child had an awful lot of resemblance to Maria.

"Is something wrong sir?" the girl asked timidly her voice suddenly frightened, her tanned arm was outstretched to grab the wheelchair.

Shadow shook his head before handing the wheelchair to the now beaming child who put it onto the soft sands of the beach. Sonic gave Shadow an odd look at the hesitation to hand over the wheelchair, but he let it go as crowds started to form around the plane making him feel uneasy.

Shadow jumped down from the plane entrance and onto the hot sands with Sonic in his good arm, he was struggling again as his still mending broken arm protested with everything he did.

"What is wrong?" the same girl that had taken the wheelchair asked with concern.

"I have a broken arm on the mend, I need a sling." He stated as he put Sonic down in his wheelchair for a second to catch his breath from his arm.

"Where is Knuckles? He was the first to come out." Rouge had drifted gracefully to the ground with outstretched wings, her bad wing still hurting a little.

A sudden ouch was heard from beneath her as she landed on Knuckles on the floor, he had not realised the huge gap between the door and the sand and had taken a step to fall straight to the ground smack on his face.

"God, you can be so stupid." Rouge laughed as she stepped off of him.

"Hi everyone." Tails said exhausted at having hardly any sleep for three days, his fur was all ruffled up and huge black bags lay under his eyes.

He was walking as if he was a drunken Zombie as he headed to the door of the plane. He was so exhausted as he tried to focus on one thing.

"Err Tails?" Sonic tried to warn as the two tailed fox continued coming.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" he said drowsily, taking a step off the edge of the plane.

Knuckles had just managed to get on his elbows after having a Rouge drop on him for him to suddenly be flattened to the floor again as a Tails also came down. Rouge burst into fits of laughter.

"In fact, we all need a bit of care and medical help." Shadow continued to talk to the young girl as he looked from his broken arm to Sonics pierced hand to Rouges bandaged wing to Tails' over exhausted body and finally to Knuckles who could be experiencing a concussion at having two people dropped on his head.

"Sure, you can come to my house, I will help you guys get back on your feet." She said as she mostly glanced at Knuckles still on the floor.

"Would you? That would be great." Sonic answered gratefully as he shook the girls tanned hand which had a blue bead bracelet on the wrist.

They spent the next half an hour getting the sonic crew to the girl's house, having to force themselves through a welcoming crowd to hurry there since the rim of the eye of the storm that they had passed through to begin with was approaching.

The white houses were truly unique and magnificent in the suns rays; the harbour was filled with boats as none were going to risk the wrath of the storm, the strong smell of fish wafting from it. The pink flowers in there hanging baskets had a lovely scent and really contrasted well with the white painted buildings. All the doors were painted in wonderful colours and they approached a red door under the shade of a tree, it had a string of shells hanging from the door and had loads of wind chimes hanging from the trees branches filling their ears with the lovely twinkling sound. It was very secluded, yet was welcoming and comfortable.

When they entered the room they gasped in amazement, the room had hundreds of wind chimes hanging from the ceiling all different colours, shapes and sizes. Some were made of fragile glass that made a high pitch twinkling; others were made of wood that made a blunted sound. All were different, not one was the same.

"Sorry about them, my mother collected them." The girl said with a smile as she led them into the small house.

"What do you mean collected? Does she not do it anymore." Rouge asked politely as a glass one sparkling in the sunlight caught her attention; the glass models on it were seahorses.

"Well...no," the girl began, her voice seemed upset. "She disappeared at sea when a storm hit a month ago."

"I am sorry..." Rouge said quietly.

The room was made out of a warm coloured wood, the wooden support beams above them visible as the wind chimes hung from them. There were photo frames all over the walls, mostly of the girl with her father and mother; nearly all of the photos were of them at sea on a sailboat. One had a black and white photo of what was presumably her father holding a giant swordfish. The wooden walls had lines of shells nailed to them all in different colours.

"That is our boat...`The great pearl`," She stated proudly as she spotted Shadow looking at the boat pictures. "My parents named it after me."

"You're name is Pearl?" He asked to affirm it. Pearl nodded.

The room was very warm and had red rugs on the polished floor boards; everything in the room was overwhelming, but it was in a nice way.

"It seems your friend really was tired." Pearl giggled and everyone looked around to see Tails fast asleep with his two tails curled around him like a cat in a rocking chair. The chair was oak wood and had red cushions on it, light snores escaped Tails as he laid there like a curled up cat, the chair rocking slightly in a soothing manner.

"We need to know," Shadow suddenly said as the black clouds of the storm started to loam over them, thunder could be heard in the distance. "There is supposed to be a village in the birch tree forest here, we need to get there. Do you know where it is?"

A strange tension filled the air as everything went deadly silent, lightning started to flash outside the window overlooking the sea. The silence and tense atmosphere caught all of their attention. The girl gasped and took a step back; everyone in the room froze at the odd sense of tension.

"You mean...the haunted village." Pearl quivered as her face seemed to be cold with slight fear, thunder boomed louder as it came over the house; the lightning cast their shadows against the walls.

"That village is deserted; people are petrified to go near it as you always get this strange sense of dread when you walk on its ground." Pearl continued quietly still frozen to the spot. Everyone felt very uneasy, including Shadow as he listened to her. The rain started to hit the window as the storm started to completely cover them, darkness filling the room.

"They say...that over seven years ago a horrific murder took place there. Everyone panicked. They all fled in fear leaving everything they treasured behind. Thieves that have heard this tale and gone there have all come back screaming as if they had seen a ghost or seen something horrible." Pearl began to tremble as she told them, each one not daring to interrupt as fear filled the room.

"It still remains deserted to this day...and so is named `the haunted village. `"

Another bolt of lightning slashed the sky as the waves picked up, the ocean swirling as the people of Apotos fled back to their buildings. All shut their doors leaving the streets deadly silent.

**END OF CHAPTER**

**Knuckles' parts made me giggle when writing this chapterXD Mostly when he comes out of the planeXD **


	22. An unexpected turn

An unexpected turn

Night had descended upon the world casting the storm shrouded Apotos into an even deeper darkness. Pearl had insisted they stay the night not wanting them to go out to the haunted village in the dangerous weather after their exhausting trip.

Pearl was a very hospitable and kind girl, she had cooked them a stunning meal to help get their strength up. It was a large fish caught by her father a couple of days ago with fresh vegetables and buttered mash, it was absolutely delicious and Sonic didn't hesitate in having two servings. Even Shadow who is usually picky with food enjoyed it, but his mind could not get over the fact that Pearl looked so much like Maria. His mind was also distracted with the haunted village.

It seemed that the horrific murder that Pearl was talking about was way too similar to what Sonic had told him happened to his family to be a coincidence, something was stirring up in that birch tree forest and tomorrow they would enter the forbidding place themselves.

They all ate in the orange glow of candle light since the storm made it risky to use the lights. Rouge was as always teasing Knuckles, Sonic was stuffing his face since living off of Rouges cooking on the plane was asking for death, Shadow just ate in silence too deep in thought and last of all Tails was missing the meal since he was still asleep in the rocking chair.

After they finished their meal Rouge had insisted she help with the washing up as thanks for Pearls generosity to them, although Knuckles was not too pleased since Rouge forced him to do the drying up. Sonic lay in his wheelchair, full to hearts content as he closed his eyes and relaxed in the warmth of the candle flames. Pearl had sorted a sling out for Shadows arm making his on the mend broken arm feel much more supported.

An hour later Pearl showed them to where they would sleep, since Rouge was the only girl of the lot she offered her to sleep in her bedroom. Rouge took the offer with gratitude and Knuckles decided on the couch down stairs. This left the spare bedroom which Sonic and Shadow had to share.

This led to what's happening now, Sonic and Shadow sleeping in the same bed with their backs to each other, too embarrassed to look at the other as the storm continued to rumble outside the window. Lightning occasionally flashed lighting up Shadows face which was facing the window.

Sonic had fallen asleep immediately, releasing small, calm snores as he slept. Those smooth snores slightly putting Shadow at ease, but he couldn't sleep. Ruby eyes filled with thought continued to stare out of the window at the dark night as he fiddled with the white blanket that covered his shoulders.

His tired eyes refused to close but he didn't know why, maybe it was because he was in a strange house, maybe it was because of the never ending storm, or maybe it was simply because Sonic was fast asleep next to him in the same bed. Shadow blushed slightly as he thought of this, feeling Sonics body warmth seeping through the blankets and warming him up too.

Cautiously, he turned over which caused the mattress to creak. The creaking made him freeze as Sonic shifted peacefully in his sleep so that he was facing the ceiling. Sonic sleeping was a nice sight he had to admit, his slowly rising chest as he slept, his slightly ruffled head quills from turning in his sleep, those slightly parted lips...

Shadow immediately started blushing harder and palm smacked his forehead, thanking the lord that no one could see him as he sat up and leant against the headboard trying to push those thoughts away. _I am picturing myself KISSING him...I need help, _Shadow thought desperately as he looked back at the sleeping form next to him. _He is asleep...it wouldn't hurt_, his conscience told him and Shadow wasn't sure whether to agree with it, or ignore it.

Sonic groaned softly in his sleep as he rolled over onto his other side so that he was facing Shadow, he had a small smile on his face as he dreamed. Shadow couldn't resist any longer, he rolled over so that he was on top of Sonic with his good arm on one side of the blue ones body to hold him up so that he didn't actually fall on him. His bare hand gripped the mattress to help with balance as he slightly leaned down to the hedgehog still on his side. He wasn't going to take Sonics lips because he wanted him to be awake when they first kissed. So he settled to lightly planting a small kiss on his cheek. After kissing him he drew back.

A warm tingling feeling settled on his lips at feeling Sonics warm skin touching them. He jumped slightly as he suddenly felt a warm muzzle suddenly start snuggling into his white chest fur since he was still on top of Sonic. Shadows cheeks went rosy red as the hedgehog under him purred softly in his sleep. Shadow smiled. It was at least after midnight and he needed to get some proper sleep himself. Crawling off of Sonic somewhat reluctantly he got back under the blanket and snuggled into his pillow. He chuckled quietly as he heard Sonic protest at having his warm soft pillow disappear.

The storm outside was dying down and the thunder was far off into the distance as the moon started to shine through the black clouds. The moonlight revealing an already sleeping Shadows face.

xxxx

Shadow awoke to Sunlight pouring through the windows making him curse as he was practically blinded by the strong light. He blinked as he forced himself to adjust before turning over to Sonic. Sonic was still fast asleep on his front, face buried in his pillow and his quills unbelievably ruffled. _He could sleep through a bomb!_ Shadow thought as she started shaking Sonics shoulders.

"No...Five more...minutes." Sonic protested as he buried his face even deeper if that was possible.

Shadow rolled his eyes at him before facing Sonic with one eye open still half asleep as he prodded Sonics back with his good arm. Sonic protested again by smacking Shadows hand away, turning his head to face Shadow with a snarly face.

"You really are not a morning person are you?" Shadow asked sarcastically as he drew his hand back, remembering how snarly Sonic had been the other times he had been there when Sonic had woken up. Sonic just snorted irritably in response.

"Guys breakfast is on the table!" Pearl called from downstairs.

xxxx

Blaze and Silver had stayed in the plane all night for shelter from the storm, not wanting to risk people spotting them. They were both starving at not eating anything for three whole days straight and were parched. Blaze gracefully leapt from the plane like only a cat could as Silver hovered down with his telekinetic powers, the tarantula in his hand not trying to escape at all.

Blazes sensitive cat nose picked up the strong scent of the salty sea as the sun shone down on them basking them in morning sunlight, the sand crunching quietly beneath their feet as they headed for the main streets in search of food. Silver hurried after his companion as she sped on ahead obviously dying for food.

"Blaze please wait!" Silver gasped as he almost tripped over making the tarantula screech in terror.

xxxx

"What's wrong Shadow?" Sonic asked as he saw Shadow suddenly stiffen up.

Shadow had heard a familiar screeching sound and had quickly looked around the room in panic thinking that the spider had survived and had come to haunt him. Not realising that the screech came from outside. When he did check out of the window however the street was empty.

"Nothing." He said a bit too quickly and Sonic cocked an eyebrow at him.

xxxx

As they walked through the pink, flower filled streets a sudden strong smell of fish filled Blazes nostrils causing her to almost go stir-crazy at the fishy scent, her cat instincts kicking in as her mouth watered. Silver was panting behind her as he tried to keep up with the cat on a hunt, noticing a white sign that said they were heading to the harbour.

The sea sparkled in the sunlight as the many different coloured fishing boats bobbed up and down on the gentle waves; some were even already out at sea casting their nets into the waters. Barrels upon barrels of fish were placed on the harbours piers ready to be sold to shops, restaurants and even taken home to families. Some barrels had tuna, some had squid and some had mackerel. Another pier had cages of crabs, lobsters and shellfish, all appetising to the female cat.

"Blaze, why don't we just go to a restaurant?" Silver asked nervously as the cat started stalking over to a barrel of mackerel, her cat eyes narrowed with the fierceness of a hunter.

"We don't have any rings Silver, taking from here would be better than stealing from a restaurant." Blaze said quickly, her tail swishing about as she watched the still alive mackerel flopping about, her eyes watching one fish' every move.

Silver realised that this was true and just twitched nervously as he watched for people who would try to stop them. Blaze had reached her hand out slowly before with lightning speed she lashed at the fish. The unsuspecting fish was caught firmly.

"Hey!" a low male voice boomed behind her, Silver had forgotten to notice someone in a fishing boat.

Blaze immediately dropped the fish and stared with shock at the man only a few feet away from her. He was a very muscularly man in a typical sailor's uniform, yet he was old and his back was straight with a proud air hovering around him. He had grey short hair and a grey moustache. Blaze took a step back, not sure how to react.

The man briskly walked over and grabbed the mackerel flopping about on the harbour piers wooden boards. To both Silvers and Blazes surprise he held it out to her with a kind smile, not at all menacing.

"If you wanted one you should have just asked," He boomed kindly as Blaze hesitantly took the offered fish. "And one for your friend too."

Silver froze feeling a bit shy as the man beckoned him over; the man stuck his hand back in the barrel and brought out another good sized fish. Silver just blinked at the fish before placing the tarantula on his shoulder and taking the fish gratefully.

"But...we don't have any rings." Silver said sadly and Blaze rolled her eyes at him for being so naive.

"Don't worry young one, I have plenty." He boomed with laughter at Silvers face when he called him `young one`.

The man was staring at the tarantula that Silver had placed on his shoulder; the creature strangely calm and just sitting there happily sunbathing as it gestured with one leg to the fish.

"Wow, that's quite a spider you have there! It seems so strangely calm with you." the man stated as he watched Silver tear a tiny piece of his fish off and hand it to the spider begging on his shoulder. She inspected it in her furry grip before taking a small nibble of the pinkish meat. She paused for a moment, before gobbling the whole thing up hungrily and stared into Silvers eyes silently begging for more. Silver let out a small laugh at a spider liking fish and took a bigger chunk off his mackerel, checking it for bones before handing it to her who started eating it quietly.

"Yeah, she is my pet. She has quite a unique personality," Silver chuckled as the spider finished it in seconds and asked for more with a small spider screech this time. "It seems she loves more than just bugs and flies."

"Then here," the man smiled as he took out a small tuna from a different barrel. "Can't have your spider eating all of your fish can we."

Silver thanked him again and looked at the boat that the man had come from, in black fashionable painted letters was written `The Great Pearl`.

"Named it after my daughter." The man boomed cheerfully at noticing Silvers attention shift to his boat. "By the way I never caught your names."

"I am Blaze and this is my friend Silver, we will be staying for a while...but have no where to go." Blaze finished on a sad note.

"My name's Simon," he said happily as he shook Blazes spare hand. "Why don't you come and stay at my house? My daughter loves to look after people."

"Oh, we don't want to be a bother." Silver said quickly but the man held his hand up.

"No, no I insist," he bellowed. "I will lead you there right now where you guys can have something to drink."

Simon led on as he led them through the streets; he had been with his mates over night and did not know that his daughter already had company.


	23. Heading to the haunted village

Heading to the haunted village

"I hope you guys enjoyed it." Pearl said as she collected the licked clean plates, it was obvious that they enjoyed it.

Tails had woken up slightly before everyone else, managing to accomplish having over twelve hours of sleep in a rocking chair. He ate his breakfast gratefully and just sat there with his tails swaying happily in his seat.

A cool breeze blew in through the open kitchen window making all the wind chimes hanging from the ceiling make beautiful sounds. The room was warm again and Sonic started dosing in the heat in his wheelchair, just listening to the wind chimes above him. His hand bandage had been replaced and he was recovering well, but he had a long way to go. Rouge and Knuckles were also sitting at the table sighing in contentment.

"Are you sure you want to go there?" Pearl asked quietly as she started washing up the dishes, soap suds frothing around the sink as she cleaned.

"Yeah, we will be fine girl, don't worry." Sonic gave her his signature thumbs up with a smile and she felt herself feel slightly more at ease. Shadow just nodded with agreement.

Pearl was wearing the same white short sleeved top as yesterday with the same sky blue shorts; however her blue bead bracelet had disappeared. Today she had a blue crystal necklace hanging from around her neck. The colour caught Shadows eye.

"Where did you get that?" he asked as he pointed to her necklace. Pearl was slightly taken aback.

"It was my mothers; she was a jeweller and was very good at craftsmanship." She replied as her hand rose up and slightly touched the cold crystal in memory of her mother since she was lost out at sea a month ago. However there had been no word that she was dead, so Pearl waited everyday encase something came up. Be it good or bad news.

Shadow realised that he had stirred up upsetting memories by attracting attention to the necklace so he just left it at that and let himself make his own assumptions of the situation. He looked at Sonic in his wheelchair, he had also noticed the necklace and had his head cocked to the side as if trying to remember something. This caused Shadow to narrow his eyes at him; maybe something about his past was starting to break through by seeing it.

"Well, I hope you find what you are looking for. Please be careful." Pearl smiled, although her mind held a hint of concern for them.

Shadow just nodded before grabbing one handle of Sonics wheelchair with his good arm and wheeling him out. Sonic gave a sigh as he waved goodbye to Pearl with her happily returning the gesture. Rouge, Knuckles and Tails followed in hot pursuit. The red front door closed firmly behind them as they left. Pearl's hand slowly dropped, her face filled with deep thought and concern. Pearl decided to dry and put away the dishes, but her mind was too focused on the four heading to the haunted village. Silence filled the room as Pearl sighed and put away another plate as she was left alone.

xxxx

"Here we are." Simon bellowed with obvious pride as he led his two guests to the door.

Blaze swore she had seen black and red in the corner of her eye, she only got a glance as it turned a corner around another street. But it was too quick to get a full view so she ignored it, thinking it was nothing.

Silver was busy feeding his spider tiny bits of the small tuna that Simon had given him, laughing as the spider always finished it quickly and begged with big black eyes for more. Raw fish it was, but the tarantula didn't seem to mind. Blaze rolled his eyes at him before following Simon inside.

The first thing that caught her attention was all of the wind chimes hanging from the wooden ceiling, and the second thing was a blonde haired girl with her hair in a pony tail running around the kitchen putting plates and cutlery away.

"Pearl, we have guests." Simon stated with a huge grin as he patted the back of Silver who was the last to enter. "Please make yourselves at home."

Pearl smiled happily at the two new arrivals, taking into account their similarities to the other four guests she had invited. Blaze and Silver both sat down at the table, their two mackerels been taken by Simon to be cooked. Silver gave the small tuna to the tarantula on the table and she started eating it very carefully.

"Hello, I hope you like milk." Pearl said kindly as she set two full glasses on the table with Blaze immediately going for it and gulping it down. Silver hesitated before taking a sip, not used to having milk unless it had chocolate in it. He licked his lips after the taste had settled in and he had to admit he did like milk on its own. He also gulped it down, parched from the three day trip to Apotos.

Blaze glanced around the room over the rim of her glass as she kept it near her lips, her topaz eyes examining the room from top to bottom through her red spectacles. Suddenly something caught her eye. Her feline lips upturned into a grin of success.

"Did you like what you got?" Pearl asked, referring to the drinks.

"Oh yes," Blaze said as she took another sip, not thinking about the drinks at all. "I certainly did."

There, on the rocking chair was the unmistakable yellow fur of the two tailed fox. They had been here.

xxxx

"I am going back to the plane," Tails told them as he started going a separate way. "It needs repairs from the storm, you guys go ahead."

Sonic looked a little disappointed as he watched Tails run away to the beach, his two tails swaying behind him as he ran. He sighed sadly as he looked ahead of them to see the birch tree forest in the distance, it looking a lot less peaceful than he last remembered it. Sonic was approaching the place of his childhood. A childhood filled with a horrible memory, one he so desperately wanted to forget. Yet he was now going to go there again, his memory surely going to be refreshed.

The bright sun shone down on Shadows ruby eyes, ruby eyes that were fixed on Sonic as he sensed the growing fright and tension building within him. Shadow knew why, Sonic had told him about his past and coming back to the place that harboured such a memory was surely going to be painful. Shadow wanted desperately to comfort Sonic...but he didn't know what to say.

It was a very busy part of the morning as the people of Apotos ran around doing jobs and buying stuff of all sorts. The four had to find an easy way through the growing crowds as mostly people with barrels of fish from the harbour passed through the streets with their destination being the shops where they would be sold. Women gossiped happily in the shade of the trees as their young children laughed and played in the street without a care in the world. All of this made it difficult for them to reach the forest entrance and at times Knuckles had threatened to knock some people out as they continued to get in his way.

Sonic dodged hands and arms as they forced themselves through a particularly large crowd, his eyes tightly shut encase he was accidently hit in the face. Shadow noticed this and growled as he had to force his way through the crowd when only holding the wheelchair with one arm.

The fragrance of the pink flowers occasionally filled their noses making them feel strangely calm, the sound of a fountain filling their ears made them feel a little peaceful. All except for Knuckles who was being pretty persistent in ranting with a man in the street, determined to pummel the guy into the ground. Only when Rouge had forced Knuckles away and apologised to the man did Knuckles finally start to calm down. However the guy was left with quite a few bruises and this satisfied Knuckles enough.

They all ventured onward, passing many different places and stalls in the streets as they went. As they continued to the outskirts of Apotos and to the forest that separated it from the haunted village it seemed that there was less and less people. The town got more deserted the further they journeyed.

Sonic fiddled nervously with his bandaged hand as they stopped at a sign. The ancient sign was made out of white painted wood, however it did not look white anymore as the paint had almost been fully washed away and large chunks were missing as it decayed. The black painted words were faded; even in the light it was a struggle to make out the words. A vine had grown around the sign post; its spindly stem climbing as it curled around the unnerving sign, its leaves covering up some of the words. The sign looked ancient and it seemed that no one really wanted to repaint it. No one had been this way for a long time.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Rouge muttered nervously whilst stroking her arm with slight fear.

Sonic took a shaky breath as he looked down the road that the sign was pointing to; it was overgrown with weeds and thistles with no one wanting to tend to the wildlife. Down the path, at the very end, he could see the entrance to the forest. Sonic could not help but feel terribly frightened, this place was not what it used to be and even though he was not actually in the forest yet he could feel a chill in the air that never used to be there. The chill of unsettled souls.

A cold, deadly silence was all that was heard. Not a single bird dared to sing. A chilly breeze swept over them seemingly drawing them to the forest as if it was luring them in. Voices merged with the wind as they beckoned them to come. Rouge shivered as her long ears fluttered slightly in the unwelcoming breeze, she herself also feeling the strange sensation as if they were being called to enter the forbidding place.

Everything suddenly went a little darker and Shadow sharply looked up. Rain clouds had started to gather out of nowhere, blocking out the sun which was their last source of comfort. Rouge started to tremble with fear and Knuckles uncharacteristically wrapped his arms around her. Birch tree leaves blew around them as the grey clouds swept across Apotos. It was like the forest was giving them an excuse to enter. They were too faraway to go back...and they needed shelter.

Sonic seemed to grip his wheelchair tighter as the chilly breeze ruffled his spikes. The whispers in the wind that were enticing them to enter grew louder as the wind grew stronger. The trees leaves flying towards them as the wind blew.

Rouge gripped Knuckles tighter as she shut her eyes tightly. All shut their eyes as they tried to block out the feeling of dread. The silence was unbearable, the birds refusing to sing in the bewitched forest. The townsfolk down the hill too faraway to hear. This was the silence of unsettled spirits.

"We must enter!" Shadow shouted to them over the wind that was getting stronger. "We have no choice!"

Shadow had one eye closed against the wind, his black and red spikes flying around madly as he held his ground. He refused to give in to the fear overwhelming the small group.

Rouge just looked at him with horror before gazing down the overgrown path of the unnerving forest entrance. The birch tree leaves rustling in the cool wind as the darkness between the trees continued to scare her. But she nodded, knowing that indeed they had no choice.

Shadow gripped Sonics wheelchair tighter with his good arm as he started to push him down the unwelcoming path. The wind seemed to laugh at them as it coaxed them on, laughing as they came closer.

Sonics heart began to pound in his ears, reminding him of that memory even more. As they drew nearer to the darkness and the high birch trees it began to rain. Cool droplets hitting them as the clouds quickly flew across the sky.

Sonic gripped his armrests so tight that his wounded hand could start bleeding again, Pearls words from last night echoing through his petrified mind.

"**That village is deserted; people are petrified to go near it as you always get this strange sense of dread when you walk on its ground."**

Shadow looked down at the frightened Sonic breathing rapidly and then to Rouge clinging onto an unresisting Knuckles behind him who looked bizarrely petrified as they headed closer. The wind picked up even more as the darkness came ever closer between the trees.

"**They say...that over seven years ago a horrific murder took place there. Everyone panicked. They all fled in fear leaving everything they treasured behind. Thieves that have heard this tale and gone there have all come back screaming as if they had seen a ghost or seen something horrible."**

Sonic held his breath as they passed the entrance and started to be swallowed by the forests unnatural darkness. It was now impossible to turn back. Their fate had been decided.

"**It still remains deserted to this day...and so is named `the haunted village. `"**


	24. Lost in the forbidden forest

Lost in the forbidden forest

Silence, pure silence was the only thing they could hear as the unnatural darkness consumed them as they went deeper and deeper into the unknown. Strong winds continued to blow in the forest and now a frightening fog trapped in between the forest trees was being blown their way, its swirling mist clinging to the floor as it swept over their feet.

The mist felt cold as it flowed smoothly over Rouges boots making her shiver involuntary, her sapphire eyes were constantly looking everywhere as she continued to feel like they were being watched. Being watched from behind the dark leaves, being watched from within the fog itself. She clung to Knuckles who seemed to not really mind the extra comfort as he too had that strange feeling as if they were being watched.

Shadow was struggling to push the wheelchair with one arm over the rough and bumpy terrain and growled occasionally as Sonics wheelchair either got caught on a birch tree root or suddenly started sinking in the marshy earth if he paused for too long. Shadow suddenly felt that his foot was soaking wet and sharply withdrew his foot, his eyes widened as it seemed that the forest was no longer a forest anymore. It was now a deadly swamp like land, waterlogged and dangerous.

The birch trees were withering at the conditions, not used to such a wet environment making the horrid place seem even more foreboding. The white bark was decaying with the mould covering it sucking the last of the trees life away. Just like the mould drained the trees energy the cold atmosphere drained their sanity.

Sonics ears flattened to his head as he saw the disastrous conditions that they had to venture through, the whole place had dying grass higher than him and this severely unnerved him since they couldn't see where the deep, murky waters of the soggy swamp were. The waters were diseased, all could tell, flies hovered around the squelchy brown mess of water and a disgusting stench filled the air. It was not surprising the place was silent, no creature could survive here.

Hours passed and the terrain got even more treacherous. Sonics wheelchair kept sinking making Sonic suddenly squeal at feeling the disgusting mush beneath him cover his shoes and continue rising. Shadow had to keep reassuring him that he would not let Sonic sink in order to keep the blue unmoveable hedgehog sane.

_This is not what I remember_, Sonic thought worriedly as he took in what was once a beautiful forest.

The lower branches were draped constantly in their way causing the leaves to hit them if they didn't pay attention. Shadow suddenly froze; he also got that feeling that they were being watched. His ears swivelled round as he listened intently at the silence. But nothing came, whoever it was they were good at hiding. Shadow grunted before continuing since Sonic was sinking again.

Rouge trudged miserably through the disgusting murky swamp, looking at her ruined white boots in dismay. Knuckles had to support her since her unsuitable heels were the first things to get stuck. Everything they were experiencing unnerved all of them, the unpredictable sinking, the thick fog that hovered around them and the deafening silence put them all on the edge.

Rouge suddenly tripped and even with Knuckles' support she fell, she went to grab for a rotting birch tree with a vine growing up it for support.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Shadow suddenly shouted and Rouge just narrowly missed the vine turning towards him with a confused expression. "It's purple...it's poisonous."

At this Rouge immediately backed away also remembering the survival training that all GUN agents had to go through, she and Shadow had learnt it together as a team and the first thing they learned was `red, black and purple...poisonous. Yellow and different shades of green...alright. But you have to be extra cautious with the green ones`. Rouge on instinct wiped her gloves on her clothes hastily even though she didn't touch it. Knuckles sniggered before continuing to help her through the death trapped marsh.

Even though it was the afternoon the forest was still almost pitch-black, looking up to the sky covered by birch tree leaves the trees were too close together blocking out the daylight in general. In the forest, it was like an eternal night.

"I really don't like it here!" Rouge cried as she took a step and suddenly sunk to her knees length in filthy water.

"You're telling me!" Sonic said shakily as his wheelchair started sinking again, the gross, brown, lumpy water sloping against his own blue knees.

"Stop acting like girls." Knuckles groaned.

"Well, Knucklehead if you haven't noticed...I AM A GIRL!" Rouge screamed at him.

"And if you haven't noticed, I am not!" Sonic chimed in with a huff.

Shadow just rolled his eyes at the senseless bickering; the forest really was sucking their sanity away. But in a way the bickering was a comfort, it was proof that they all hadn't completely lost it yet. Shadow could feel a pair of eyes watching him again from within the trees and he stared to its source above him with a warning glint in his eyes. The birch trees leaves were too close together and it hid whoever was there perfectly...but he knew they were there.

The swamp waters got even murkier and deeper as they progressed; they didn't know which way they were going and they were starting to get the horrible gnawing feeling inside that they were lost. By now the whole group were filthy and were all starting to feel nausea at the smell of rot, Shadows sensitive nose had almost made him pass out but he managed to stop himself for Sonics sake.

They forced themselves through the unordinary long grass, gasping as they had been walking for several hours now and were indeed slowly starting to lose themselves to the darkness of the swamp, to lose themselves to the chilling fog.

Suddenly the ground disappeared! Rouge screamed as she was submerged in thick brown water. All screamed as the surface suddenly vanished. Screamed as they sank.

Sonic panicked as he felt himself underwater, his wheelchair was too heavy and was pulling him down fast. Shadow let go of the wheelchair, but with a broken arm he couldn't swim properly. He grabbed Sonics arm and pulled him out of the wheelchair as bubbles floated around them. Sonic had his eyes closed tightly in fear. He clung to Shadow as he felt himself feeling faint. Shadow felt light headed, desperate for air as he looked up to see the surface drifting further and further away from them. Sonic couldn't hold on any longer. He released his air.

Shadow forced himself to work, kicking his legs in a desperate attempt to approach the surface. But it seemed to be futile as it seemed they sank further. He had to at least get Sonic up there!

Shadow suddenly let go of his air, his lungs feeling ready to burst. The pondweed swaying around him became blurry. The water filling his ears became quiet. Sonic held onto Shadow tighter...thinking it would be the last time he held him. Shadow looked down to Sonic holding onto him petrified, and he smiled...at least Sonic was the last thing he would see.

Shadow felt Sonic suddenly go limp as the last of his air escaped him. He himself also felt himself failing...feeling his body giving up. He slowly looked around the murky water, his ruby eyes dull with surrender. Rouge floated nearby tangled in the pond weed, but Knuckles was no where to be seen. Shadow gave a weak smile; at least they would die...together.

Shadow let himself completely go. Slowly shutting his black eye lids as the surface became just a hazy vision of his last breath. Sonics grip lessoned on his waist as he felt Sonics gloved fingers lose strength.

_...Sonic...I love you..._


	25. The forest guide

The forest guide

At the last moments of life Shadow felt a hand suddenly grasp his wrist, without his gloves he could feel it perfectly. His eyes shot open in surprise when he felt himself along with Sonic get pulled up. His eyesight was still blurry, but he could see a red blur hovering around Rouge stuck in the pondweed. Knuckles must have come to help her, but if that was the case...who was pulling him?

The surface broke and Shadow gasped in huge amounts of air, his body quivering slightly from the lack of it a second ago. He coughed and spluttered as he attempted to breathe properly, he had been rudely dropped onto the floor by the unknown person where he now lay desperate for air.

Suddenly he realised that Sonic was beneath him as his vision started to clear, out cold...and not breathing. Shadow seemed to freeze for a moment, before completely forgetting about himself and taking action.

Crawling further on top of the blue hedgehog he put his wet hands onto the others cold chest and performed CPR. As Shadow kept pumping his chest he felt a feeling of hopelessness arise, what if he couldn't save him. Nothing seemed to be happening.

"God damn it Sonic come on!" He screamed desperately.

He kept pumping, hoping he wouldn't have to do mouth-to-mouth in front of everybody, yes it would be nice to touch lips with him but now wasn't the right time. The eyes of the stranger were staring at him and it really unnerved him. As he continued to pump he didn't realise he had awoke a small pulse.

_God, do I really have to do this_, he thought wildly as a still unmoving Sonic lay beneath him. Slowly, ever so slowly, he lowered his face down. His eyes never left Sonics face until he was close enough to touch noses. Shadows hot breath danced across Sonics lips as he got ever nearer.

The heat near his lips kick-started Sonics heart rate. The first thought that crossed his mind was that he was about to be kissed. His eyes slowly fluttered open to then widen in shock. Shadow was centimetres away from about to brush lips with him.

Emerald locked onto Ruby in that second with surprise flooding over both of their faces. Sonic tried to breathe, but he choked. Without warning Sonic suddenly smacked Shadow making the black one recoil clutching his face. Sonic sat up fast as he started to cough up water that had been stuck in his lungs.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Shadow shouted at him, still clutching his face that now had a prominent red mark across his cheek. "I thought you were bloody dead you blue idiot!"

"DEAD!" Sonic gasped out desperate to get the annoying brown water out of his lungs. "SO YOU WOULD KISS ME IF I WAS DEAD!"

"NO! I thought you were dead and I was trying to revive you, you bloody pincushion!" Shadow continued to curse as he wiped the smacked cheek giving Sonic death glares.

"Well, I only smacked you because I have water in my lungs." Sonic was still gasping as he slowly recovered.

Shadow paused as he watched Sonic continue to keep coughing obviously struggling. Looking at his current condition Shadow let the smack go, it was not Sonics fault; it was a natural reflex so he could get oxygen. Shadow crawled back over to Sonic since when he had recoiled he had fallen backwards and landed on his back. As he crawled nearer to the soaking wet Sonic he completely forgot the stranger still staring at him.

"Are you...alright?" Shadow asked gently, his anger had vanished in an instant at seeing Sonics pained face.

"I...don't know." Sonic sniffled, shivering as the wind caught his dripping wet head quills. Shadow, noticing this, put his warm back against Sonics in an attempt to help keep him warm.

Sonic felt Shadows nice warm back against his and he sighed in content feeling the warmth transfer to him. The ultimate life-form was like a living radiator. He leaned back further into the black hedgehogs back quills as he relaxed. Shadow just smiled at feeling this.

Suddenly Knuckles burst from the water carrying Rouge in his arms. Shadow felt his blood run cold and quickly got up and ran for them. _Not Rouge, anyone but Rouge, please don't be dead_, Shadows selfish thought collided with his love for Sonic. Sonic suddenly felt Shadow disappear and saw the pure look of panic on the black ones face as he sped off to Rouge. Shadow felt his insides go hollow and he paled as Rouge was carefully put onto the grass. Her clothes were soaked and the crystal key was in Knuckles' closed fist. A fist that was shaking with withheld tears. Shadow widened his eyes...she couldn't be.

Sonics ears flattened, he wished he could stand up and comfort Shadow. Rouge was Shadows closest friend next to Omega. Shadow fell to his knees, completely shocked and bewildered. Everything he had been through with her in the past month went through his mind as he felt his insides twist at looking at Rouges lifeless face.

"**Come in Shadow...Come in."**

**Shadow tapped the device on his wrist whilst he dodged another attack from the beast; he rolled sideways and hid behind a lump of ruined house.**

"**What is it Rouge I'm busy right now." He snarled through the communicator.**

"**Ohhhh touchy...anyway have you found sonic yet." Rouges Cocky voice spoke over the line.**

He raised his hand up to Rouges chest...no pulse.

"**For God sake why have you got that?" Shadow burst out as he had finally had enough of the sun reflecting off the crystal and into his eyes. Rouges lips twisted into a smirk at seeing how easily breakable Shadow was at the moment.**

"**This, for your information honey, is the key to this whole mystery." Rouge winked seductively at him but he only groaned in annoyance.**

"No..." he murmured, touching Rouges cheek with his bare fingers, a single tear fell from his ruby eyes.

"**What?" Shadow growled.**

"**Why do you have to be so touchy and in a bad mood when I call? Anyway I have a mission for you, but before I give it to you I have to explain things a little."**

Shadow felt that single tear fall and drip onto his clenched fist, the memories giving him untold pain.

"**WHAT!" Shadow screamed through the communicator almost deafening Rouge on the other end.**

"**WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO TOUCHY!" Rouge screamed back causing Shadow to put his hands to his ears in pain, he knew he deserved that.**

_I'm sorry...I never meant to always lose my temper with you...you mean the world to me,_ Shadow thought as he pulled his hand away from Rouges face, his own face looking cold and hurt.

"She's not dead."

Shadow, Sonic and Knuckles all turned to the female voice of the stranger. Knuckles' eyes widened, it was a female echidna. She was orange with ocean blue eyes and had very strange ancient clothing. In her hand was a staff that was held proudly.

"Who are you?" Knuckles yelled. It was this girl that had stopped him from jumping in and saving Rouge sooner. She had restrained him and tried to receive answers from him, stopping him from jumping into the waters and saving her. However she was wearing a mask made out of leaves then to disguise her face, now that mask was gone.

"I am Tikal...and you are not welcome here! You maybe kin, but you are trespassing on sacred ground. Leave!" She demanded as she glared at Knuckles.

"You said she is not dead, how do you know?" Shadow interrupted what ever rude comment was going to escape Knuckles' mouth, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes for Rouge.

This girl could help them and she was honestly their only chance. Getting on her bad side now would ruin their chances. Tikal narrowed her eyes at the black and red hedgehog suspiciously before answering.

"Her soul has scattered, this forest sucks away a living beings soul when they die. This is why no animal can survive here...and is why you can hear their voices on the wind." She walked towards them, leaving her leaf mask on the floor. "I can call and combine her shattered soul, but you must answer all of my questions truthfully." Tikal said as she stamped her staff on the ground.

"Fine, on one condition," Sonic interrupted from where he was lying on the floor, Tikal raised an eyebrow at him. "If we answer one of your questions, you must answer one of ours."

Silence enveloped the small group, seconds of absolute silence passed until Tikal cautiously nodded in agreement.

"Very well, I will follow your terms. My first question is who are you?" Tikal agreed and awaited her answer.

"I'm Sonic, and this is Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles," He answered as he pointed to each said person in turn. "We know who you are, but why are you here?

"I am the forest guide; I lead the shattered souls of the dead here to their final resting place in the sacred temple. The sacred temple grounds that you are so wrongfully trespassing on." Tikal growled as she stamped her staff on the ground again in a sign of warning. "My second question is where are you going?"

"We need to get to a village within this birch tree forest, a village everyone now refers to as `the Haunted village`." Shadow answered this one as he glanced at Rouges body.

"You wish to head there," Tikal narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Yet, you are heading the wrong way. Answer me this, if this is true then why are you heading in the opposite direction to your destination?"

Everyone's eyes made contact with each other; they didn't know that they had gone the completely wrong way. Knuckles turned his violet eyes to the female echidna, locking his eyes with hers.

"We have gotten lost; we did not mean to trespass. We don't know where to go." Knuckles quietly answered.

Tikal's suspicious gaze that she had been holding firm the entire time softened, her tense body relaxed as she took her staff off of the marshy ground now knowing she did not need to intimidate. She gave a small smile to the group as she walked towards Rouges body on the wet dead grass.

"You have answered my questions truthfully; the spirits of the forest tell me so. As agreed, I will summon your friends' soul back to her body. Hopefully her soul has not scattered too far."

Tikal leant over Rouge as she examined. After taking her time looking at various limbs she pulled out a strange glass bottle from within her ancient clothing, the bottle contained what looked like purple sand. Shadow gave her a questioning look but she just smiled as she poured it in a ring around Rouges body, the purple colour really standing out on the brown grass.

Tikal raised her staff. The ring of sand began to glow blue. She began to chant in some unknown language and it glowed even brighter. She then shut her eyes and spoke in English with her staff over Rouge.

"By the ground I walk on, by the air I breathe, by the sun rising in the east. Take her soul that now lies like shattered glass and make it whole. Bring the shards back here...to their resting place."

Suddenly a wind picked up, swirling around them. The strange and unexpected wind ruffling Sonics quills as he watched in awe. Blue lights suddenly started appearing through the trees and homing in on Rouges body, it was almost complete darkness and the blue orbs were amazing to watch as they passed like smoke through the air. The blue lights like fireflies as they entered the glowing ring of sand. The scene and procedure was spectacular.

"What's going on?" knuckles asked as the blue lights hovered around Rouge, the blue lights able to enter the sand ring, but could not escape it.

"Her soul has been shattered for too long, when a soul is shattered for too long the soul refuses to re-enter the body and refuses to pass over. It is this that creates wandering spirits, which is where my job as a forest guide comes in." She closed her eyes in dismay as Rouges' soul continued trying to escape.

Hundreds of the strange blue lights were entering the area around them; they came from within the mist, from beyond the trees and even from below the deep waters. All glowed with a warm yet mystical aura, the aura of Rouges' soul. The lights illuminated the eternal darkness of the forest, lighting up the dead birch trees and reflecting off of Shadows ruby eyes as he watched intently.

Once Tikal was sure that all of the soul shards were within her magic barrier she began to chant in that strange language again, knuckles was suspecting that it was an old echidna language used long ago when they still lived as tribes. Once the strange language had been spoken all of the blue orbs froze, before suddenly entering Rouges chest. The silence was deafening as Rouges whole body began to glow blue, her short hair swaying slightly in her own magical aura. All watched in silence. Tension filled the atmosphere. All waited.

Without warning Rouge gave a sudden shaky intake of air and the glowing barrier vanished, leaving no traces of the purple sand. She coughed violently as her lungs that had not been working for over ten minutes started to function. Shooting upright as she coughed Shadow ran to her immediately to help support her, overjoyed as he saw his friend move again.

"Wh-what happened?" Rouge stuttered confused looking at everyone with her watery sapphire eyes and giving strange glances at Tikal.

"You mean...you don't remember what happened?" Shadow asked surprised as Rouge only shook her head as an answer and gave him a quizzical look.

"We are in your debt." Knuckles said as he bowed to Tikal in respect. It seemed that she was some sort of mage, meaning that in a tribe she would be a higher rank than him.

"Well as the forest guide, I suppose I can guide you guys to the hidden village." Tikal sighed with exhaustion from the spell. "Follow quickly; I will not stop for you."

With that she started with unbelievable ease through the extra long grass, her body used to such a rough and unliveable terrain. Using her staff as a walking stick as she pushed herself through the disgusting marsh. Shadow had to carry Sonic with one broken arm which was difficult since he had lost the wheelchair to the swamp. Knuckles had swept the stumbling Rouge off her feet and carried her bridal style since she was still feeling a little rough from the magic treatment. _Could this trip get any stranger, _Shadow thought as he forced himself to keep up to Tikal. Everyone prepared themselves before hurrying after the quick forest guide.


	26. The mushroom path

The mushroom path

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" Rouge tapped Knuckles chin since he was carrying her.

Knuckles just shook his head again for the fifth time; Tikal had forbidden him to speak of the spell since it could stir up her soul and corrupt her inner spirit. It was always better for the victim to never know that they had died and that their soul had dispersed, it could freak them out.

"Gees, this echidna girl wasn't fooling around when she said she wouldn't stop for us." Sonic whispered to Shadow who was in a lot of pain with his broken arm and just hissed in agreement.

The fact that Shadow was in pain because he had to carry him made Sonic feel terribly guilty, it wasn't his fault that he couldn't move his legs but he still felt guilty deep down in his heart. Guilty that he was causing Shadow a lot of unnecessary stress and agony.

It was now night outside of the forest with the rain clouds from earlier still hovering above the trees. This made the dark forest even darker if that was even possible, they couldn't see at all where they were walking and had to be extra cautious and careful. The mist got even heavier and harder to see through making Tikal ahead of them look faded, this caused immense problems with the pure darkness and the impassable fog making their Journey even more treacherous.

Sloppy, muddy water continued to lap against all of their knees making them groan in disgust and annoyance, the long yellowish grass had grown a lot longer here and the trees were so much closer together making the darkness stronger and almost impossible to see through. This was no forest; this was a swamp of death and dread.

The unnaturally long blades of grass and all of the poisonous undergrowth made this place a death trap. This part of the swamp like forest was worse than what they had experienced before; the decaying birch trees here were almost black with death as they withered over the lumpy diseased waters. Very poisonous fungi grew on the rotting trees; all were purple and red in colour with some being larger than their hands.

Even though this place was revolting and unbearable to be in this part had some extraordinary sights. Sonic was looking around since he had nothing else to do, he was looking around to see if he could spot anything interesting. He gasped as he looked up and poked Shadows white chest fur, too amazed to say anything. Shadow followed his gaze upwards, and there above them were the giant heads of mushrooms, no longer tree leaves blocking the sky. The Long white stalks that they had thought were birch trees were actually long mushrooms reaching heights way over their heads.

Sonic whistled with approval at the size, he had never seen mushrooms so big. Knuckles and Rouge had also noticed and were completely flabbergasted at the unbelievable sight. Tikal, even though she said she wouldn't, did indeed stop and gave a small chuckle at their shocked faces.

"No animals or not, this place is the perfect habitat for mushrooms. Some of these mushrooms we use for healing purposes," Tikal explained as she waited for them to catch up. "Wait until you see these particular tall mushrooms at midnight, their serene beauty is outstanding."

"You said _we_, are there more echidnas here?" Knuckles inquired as he was the first to catch up with Rouge in his muscular arms.

To be honest, he wanted to desperately know since he thought that the echidnas had become extinct, he thought...that he was the only one left. That is, until he met Tikal. Tikal laughed at this question, obviously thinking it was hilarious.

"Of course, my tribe live in the mushroom houses here. In fact we are not far from my old home. However my duty forces me to live in the scared temple...I am not allowed to leave. I am bound by my duty." She stated sadly as she started walking though the thick mud with ease, her staff half way in the watery mess.

"Sounds like someone else I know." Rouge said seductively, now fully recovered from the magical soul combining.

Knuckles blushed at this, it was harsh but true. He was the guardian of the master emerald and was bound by his duty to guard it, the same as Tikal was the forest guide and protector of the scared temple. Meaning she was also bound to one place by her duty. A lonely, miserable life in solitude just protecting what she has been ordered to protect. Knuckles knew how it felt...and he felt sorry for her.

"You are very strong," Knuckles reassured her as he caught up to the Tikal with a miserable expression on her face. He had come to learn to respect Tikal for knowing the ancient arts of magic, a rare gift amongst the echidna. "And I know your pain."

"How do you?" Tikal asked curiously, slowing down the pace so she could have a conversation with the red one.

"I am the guardian of the master emerald, I am bound to my duty to Angle island...bound to protect the master emerald." He answered and Tikal gave him a shocked expression.

"I have never heard of Angle Island, but I have learned of the master emerald in the ancient text on the sacred temples walls. Does this mean there are echidnas outside this forest?" She asked excitedly, eager to learn of the outside world since she was forbidden to see it.

Knuckles slowed down as he trudged through the knee length sludge, looking downcast. Tikal noticed this and also slowed down wondering what could have possibly caused this reaction from the outsider.

"Well...no. I thought I was the last echidna alive. Until I met you," He began as Rouge listened in on their conversation as she learned about the echidna. "Until I met you and you told me that there were others living here in this very forest. I always thought I was the last one of my kind...I was alone."

Tikal gave him a look of pity and sympathy laced into one, she did not realise that Knuckles had thought that he was the last, always thinking that when he died the echidna would be extinct. She forced her staff forward as she brushed away blades of long mucky grass out of the way.

"What...happened to them?" She asked cautiously and quietly, not sure if she wanted to know.

"They were wiped out...by the master emerald itself," This response made Tikal stop moving all together as she stared at him with disbelief. "Chaos, who lives inside the emerald, wiped them out. You see, my tribe had wanted to destroy the emerald, thinking that it could only bring evil. The tribe went up to the shrine and threatened to destroy it. But chaos stopped them...by wiping them out. I was just a young boy left at home for safety...not realising that my mother and father had vanished." Knuckles' voice broke as he felt the memories of a lonely childhood sting his eyes.

"What made it worse was that I was forced to learn how to live alone at only five years old, forced to be strong and protect the thing that so wrongfully wiped out my tribe." Knuckles continued as the brown water that sloped around his knees started to lower, obviously getting closer to normal solid ground.

"I am so sorry." Tikal's words were genuine and had real feeling. She was bound to her temple, but at least she still had a family and a tribe to visit.

"Looks like they are getting along well." Sonic chuckled as he watched Tikal and Knuckles ahead of them chatting away in the darkness, Rouge listening and also feeling sympathy for Knuckles. Rouge would never tease Knuckles about guarding the master emerald again.

"Yeah, them two talking has slowed them down enough to let us catch up." Shadow added as his arm throbbed painfully, but he couldn't let Sonic drop into the swamp water.

"We are almost there." Tikal called over her shoulder at seeing Shadow struggling carrying Sonic with his arm.

By now you could not even see the water since it was so dark and the mist made things feel eerie and spooky. All of them, except Tikal, were absolutely exhausted and needed sleep.

Sonic kept looking up at the giant heads of the mushrooms, it felt like they had shrunk to bug size. To Sonic he felt puny as the mushrooms seemed to get bigger and bigger the further they travelled. Shadow occasionally got his foot stuck in the thick mud at the bottom of the swamp water, but he just cursed and forced his feet onward making Sonic smile at him.

It was almost midnight and if they could see the star lit sky they would be able to see that it was a full moon shining down upon the forest leaves and mushroom heads.

"It is almost time, you guys are going to witness what no other outsider has seen before, `The time of the great light`." Tikal said proudly. "It is our small piece of beauty that we forest echidna only see every midnight. Because this place is always in eternal darkness, `The time of the great light` is a huge relief to us."

Sonic looked at Shadow and Shadow looked at him, both anticipating what beauty was meant to come in this dark, miserable, dying place. Shadow could suddenly feel solid ground beneath him, he could also feel that his hover skates were completely soaked in stinky swamp water and he had to stop himself punching something since he was holding Sonic at the moment.

The ground was now completely solid again as Shadow felt shorter grass brushing against his now trembling legs. He was cold, tired and exhausted to the point of collapse. He had a broken arm and had to carry Sonic which made things worse.

The blue hedgehog had to admit he was enjoying the ride, and what happened with the CPR thing wasn't so bad. Thinking that Shadow would do mouth-to-mouth with him wasn't a bad thought at all and thinking about it made Sonic develop a small pink blush. But his thoughts of the black sexy thing carrying him were interrupted as a sudden white glow started to form above them.

"It is here...`The time of the great light! `" Tikal said with glee.

All eyes looked up in amazement. The giant mushroom heads above them were glowing! Blues, whites and purple glows broke through the eternal darkness breathing hope into them. It was truly spectacular as even the fungi attached to the dying birch trees glowed red. All the different lights reflecting off of the swamp water made the swamp look almost enchanted. In a way it was romantic. Shadow got an urge to kiss Sonic here and now in this romantic setting, but was too embarrassed since there was everyone here.

"It is a shame, but we are at our journeys end. We are approaching the entrance to the haunted village," Tikal almost sounded disappointed as she told her new friends.

The lights from the glowing mushrooms allowed them to see that straight ahead there was a wall of tall mushrooms, their thick stalks unbreakable. Tikal raised her staff and a purple glow enveloped the staff and the mushrooms. Her magic was manipulating them as the thick stalks bent on their own to the sides really slowly. Moonlight poured through the crack that had developed through the mushrooms as they spread more to the side. There, down a small path, was the haunted village. "This is where we separate, I must return to my temple."Tikal turned to the group looking upset.

All felt relived to see the sky again, even if it was slightly clouded over, they had been travelling in the forest for almost a full twenty four hours.

"Thank you so much, forest guide" knuckles said as he put Rouge down and gave another bow.

"The pleasure was all mine, guardian of the master emerald." She replied with a bow of her own.

She suddenly looked back at Shadow panting with Sonic in tow. He stumbled out into the fresh air as he carefully put Sonic down on the lush green grass desperate to get his weight off of his arm.

"Do us a favour Sonic...lay off the chilly dogs." Shadow gasped as he sat next to him cradling the sling. Sonic just laughed as he lay back on the grass and relaxed in the fresh air too.

Tikal suddenly came over, kneeling next to Shadow. He gave her a quizzical look, unsure of the girl's intentions. Placing her staff onto Shadows sling the black one hissed at the pressure she was putting on it. The same purple glow as before was released from her staff and it enveloped the broken arm. A few seconds later she pulled her staff away. Shadow felt no pain anymore. Sonic was watching him with wide eyes as Shadow undid his sling and moved his arm around. Tikal had healed him.

But he didn't get a chance to thank her since she was already heading to Knuckles who was arguing with Rouge again. She made eye contact with knuckles in the white moonlight, ocean blue to violet as she gently grabbed his hand, placed something in it and then closed his mitt around it.

"If you should ever need me, or feel lonely...Just whistle." Tikal said with a smile, she nodded to each person in turn before slowly walking and entering the gap between the still magically pulled apart mushrooms.

She stopped and looked back at them for the final time; her eyes were burning with hot tears as she had to leave her new friends already. Then she disappeared into the uninviting darkness of the forest, the mushrooms magically bending back into place as she got further away.

Knuckles blinked at the now blocked off entrance before looking at his still clasped hand. Rouge was right next to him waiting to see what she had given him. He slowly opened his mitt to see something that shocked him. Tikal had given him a small flute, no bigger than his middle finger. It was made out of some sort of bone and had many holes to play tunes with. It had a string so he could place it around his neck. He admired its craftsmanship, even though it was small it was the best present he had ever had. He placed it around his neck with pride, knowing that a mage, his new echidna friend, had made it herself.

_If you should ever need me, or feel lonely...just whistle. _


	27. Haunted Village

**I am really REALLY sorry. It has been nearly a week since the last chap, but I returned to school and didn't have time to continue. I am going to attempt to finish this story today so be prepared for what comes next.**

Haunted village

Morning came quickly revealing a calm blue sky, not a single breeze swept over the four sleeping bodies as they lay curled up in the grass from their exhausting trip through the forest. Fresh morning dew covered the lush blades of grass as the sun began to rise.

Rouge started to stir in the grass next to knuckles, her eyelids slowly opening to the quiet morning. She sat up with a groan at sleeping awkwardly, her hand rubbing the back of her neck that now had sore and stiff muscles. Her beautiful blue eyes reflected the morning sun as she watched knuckles continue to sleep next to her...everything was too peaceful.

She then turned her gaze to the village just down the path; its grey, cracking brick wall that surrounded the village did little to settle her growing anxiety. From her position it seemed to follow its name, the haunted village. She suddenly jumped at feeling Knuckles' fist jab her side.

"Not frightened are you batgirl?" Knuckles asked mockingly, even though he was not particularly keen on entering the village himself. His voice had that morning grogginess of someone still half asleep making his question sound not at all menacing.

"Maybe, but I am more worried about Sonic." She replied as she turned her gaze to Sonic now starting to stir himself.

Sonic let out a satisfied yawn as he stretched his arms above his head after having a peaceful rest in the grass. But he suddenly stopped stretching at feeling something strange... it didn't feel like the grass anymore. When he turned his head around to look he realised that he was in Shadows lap, the black hedgehog still sleeping as he groaned in his sleep at being disturbed. Sonic froze with his arms in the air, his emerald eyes widened as a bright red blush plastered his once calm face.

Shadow slowly opened one eye as he felt something shift slightly in his lap, when he spotted Sonic looking at him with wide eyes heat also rose up to his cheeks as he also froze. Both stared at each other for a while, not sure how it happened. Shadow cleared his throat nervously as he sat up, effectively managing to get Sonics face in his white chest fur causing the blue one to blush even more madly. Luckily the fur hid it.

"Sorry." Sonic spluttered with embarrassment at feeling Shadows soft chest fur smoothly rub against his face. He tried to move away, but with unmoveable legs it was a problem, he didn't know how he even got there in the first place.

Shadow, in complete silence and shame, gently held Sonic under his arms and placed him on the grass next to him. He was ashamed because in the night, knowing that Sonic was a heavy sleeper, he had put the blue one on his lap as he snoozed away

Shadow looked at his gloveless hands and at what was once his broken arm; somehow Tikal had used her magic and had completely healed him, now he could carry Sonic easily without inflicting unnecessary pain on himself. He graced his black fingers against his cured arm, a small feeling of dread suddenly sweeping over him as he thought about what about to come.

Now was the time to enter the haunted village, Sonics old home and birth place...a place of horrible memories and bottled up nervousness and fear. Sonic himself did seem tense this morning, although Shadow couldn't figure out if that was because he had woken up in his lap or if it was the haunted village down the grassy path causing the tension within him.

"Are you ready?" Shadow asked quietly as he turned to Sonic who had his head bowed.

"...I don't know." Pure nervousness evident in his voice as he lifted his head up to meet Shadows ruby eyed gaze, his emerald eyes filled with anxiety whilst Shadows were filled with extraordinary confidence.

"Sonic, I have to tell you something. Something I have been trying to tell you for a long time." Shadow began.

"Hurry up Shadow!" Rouge interrupted as she beckoned them impatiently.

"...I promise I will tell you soon, and you know what I am like about my promises." He sighed as he picked Sonic up bridal style, Sonic didn't squirm or struggle, he was used to feeling it by now.

Sonic knew about Shadows promises...he refused to break them. This made him feel secure as he knew that Shadow would indeed follow his own words and tell him what he so anxiously wanted to hear. But Sonics thoughts were cut short as Shadow carried him easily across the dew covered grass, the fresh morning air no comfort to him as they approached his old home...the haunted village.

Everywhere Sonic looked it reminded him of the day of his family's murder, every tree, even the sky was clouded in his minds eye by the awful memory. It was as if he was reliving the experience once more.

He clutched his arms around Shadows neck tighter as a feeling of weakness and fear suddenly started to drain him. Shadow did feel the blue ones tense body, and he could not ignore the slight tremble now and then. Shadow held him a little tighter, not too much to hurt him and not too loose to make him feel vulnerable. Shadow was the only one that could hold him just right, and it brought huge comfort to Sonic.

The silent air of the forest was now distant, the once silent air filled with the cawing of crows waiting at the village. Their black beady eyes filled with apprehension and excitement as they hopped along the ruined tiled roofs awaiting the unexpected visitors.

The tense and fearful atmosphere did not fit the calm weather at all as they started to follow an overgrown gravel path heading for the village. Yet the calm weather seemed to add more to their caution. Sonic closed his eyes, if only they did not have to come here.

The crows cawed at them as they headed towards the village wall that held the haunted village within. Weeds crunched beneath their feet as they approached. Their steps seemed to come too fast as they came ever closer to their final destination. It would not be long now.

xxxx

"Where did you say they went?" Blaze asked as she held a yellow fox fur found on the rocking chair in-between her gloved fingers, her topaz eyes scanning it thoroughly to make sure it indeed was the two tailed fox's.

"The...haunted village." Pearl answered with a shiver, the place always put her on the edge.

Silver was sitting at the kitchen table and had taken his camera out to clean the lens on it again, the tarantula on his shoulder watching curiously as the cloth moved in circles as it polished.

Blaze was pacing up and down the kitchen, pushing her red spectacles further up her nose as she thought. The yellow hair was still in-between her finger tips as her mind brain stormed.

"Why did they go there?" Blaze questioned with an angry edge to her voice as she suddenly stopped pacing, facing a nervous Pearl also sitting at the table opposite Silver.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me." Pearl answered frightfully; it felt as though she was being interrogated. The problem was...she was being interrogated.

Blaze gave no response as she started pacing again, she was pacing so much that there would be an indent in the wooden floor. Her tail swished from side to side as she continued to pace, the cats behaviour unnerving poor Pearl sitting in the chair fiddling with her blue crystal necklace.

It had been a full night ago since Silver and Blaze had turned up at Pearls door with her father, the whole night used to rest in peace. However, Blaze had woken up fired up and ready to get her front page story. She needed to know where they went, how faraway and the most important was how to get there?

"Do you know the way?" Blaze asked Pearl a little more kindly this time.

Pearl nodded timidly in reply as she finally made eye contact with Blaze for the first time that morning

"Good, could you please lead us there." It was more of a command rather than a question and Pearl did not hesitate in getting up and heading for the door. She had learned to fear the purple cat, but had come to learn to adore Silver. Silver quickly put his camera away into his head spikes, grabbed the tarantula and followed in hot pursuit.

xxxx

The haunted village had a strange aura surrounding it, it felt as if hundreds of people were there...yet it was empty. The strong smell of decaying filled their noses as they approached the foreboding place. The brown, dusty, gravel stones crunched beneath their feet. A small, unnerving breeze blew as they entered a broken metal gate which was the only entrance into the village.

Inside the village wall it seemed even more unnerving. The broken wooden doors creaked as they swung insecurely on their hinges, their wood rotting and soft. Shattered windows revealed completely dark houses. The deserted houses were silent with emptiness. It was a ghost town.

Sonic looked at the trees on the other side of the village, the trees that separated the village from his house. His green eyes suddenly went hollow as the memories that flooded back into his mind were unstoppable. Seeing the birch trees caused a memory to resurface in his mind once more.

**The tree branches whacked Sonics face making a clean, bleeding cut but he didn't care. He ran, faster than he had ever run before. He was taking a short cut through a birch tree forest as he tried to escape the unknown danger. No matter where he ran it was silent. No matter where he looked he was alone. No matter where he went the smell of blood seemed stronger than ever before.**

"**MUM! MUM WHERE ARE YOU!" Sonic screamed from the top of his lungs. **

He shivered and tried looking at the sky to get peace, but even seeing the now calm sky made memories return to him. To him the sky was not blue...but still stained black with the fires smoke.

"**Thanks. See ya later." Sonic smiled as he left the corner shop.**

**Sonic suddenly stopped, something was wrong. The place was deserted. Everyone had disappeared. The chilling wind caused shivers down his spine as the birds remained completely silent. Something was wrong, really wrong. It was dark from the night approaching. The skies were filled with black clouds as rain started to fall. When he looked up at the sky it had a strange glow, an orange glow. A smell filled his senses...the smell of fresh blood.**

Every single thing he saw corrupted his mind with the unwanted memories, his shaky hands rose and clutched his head as he tried to pry the thoughts away. His body trembled as his ears folded down, his eyes tightly shut as the memories hurt his very mind and soul.

"Sonic..." Shadow whispered, uncertain he should talk to him at the moment. Sonic did not answer; he just kept whimpering, trembling and shaking his head as if he was desperate to escape his own mind.

The village was as empty and deserted as the last time Sonic laid his eyes on it...and it was this that sucked his sanity away the most. Everyone else around him saw just a deserted dusty village...but all he could see was the memory of the worst part of his life.

Rouge hooked her arm around Knuckles', feeling strangely aware of the many beady eyes of the crows watching their every move. Knuckles felt Rouge holding his arm but did not push her away; his other hand gripped the bone whistle around his neck given to him by Tikal as he glanced through the shattered windows and into the deserted homes which were once the villagers.

Sonics ears folded down against his head as Shadow walked them past what was the corner store...the last place he had gone to before his family were murdered. He shuddered at seeing it again before forcing his eyes away and Shadow gripped him tightly in reassurance.

The whole crew felt strangely anxious at seeing the abandoned village, like pearl had said all of their possessions were still there within their houses, left there during their desperate bid to escape.

Sonic shivered as all he could feel were the crow's eyes staring at them, almost as if they were waiting for something. Dread filled their now slow steps as the feeling of dread built up whilst they walked on the village ground, it felt like they were walking on a graveyard.

The crows watched intently, like eagles watching prey as the four continued through the village. It was obvious that no one had been here for many years now; the brown gravelled road lay untouched in many places they walked upon.

Although, untouched wasn't the word. The dusty gravel path filled with dandelion flowers was all ruffled up from when the villagers had desperately fled in pure fear...their tracks still there from seven years ago.

"Sonic, I know you're upset. But you must tell us how to get to your house." Shadow said quietly as he paused down the path they were walking down, Rouge and Knuckles stopping behind them and waiting for his response.

Sonic remained silent and only buried his face deeper into Shadows chest fur, everything inside him making him reluctant to tell. Shadow just sighed, getting angry with Sonic at a time like this was the worst thing he could do.

While Shadow tried to get something out of him Rouge caught her eye on something through a shattered window of what looked like a small house on the other side of the street. Reluctantly, she let go of Knuckles' arm causing him to glance at her with a questioning look. She walked towards it, the grey beaks of the crows cawing louder and louder as they watched from the cracked, red tiled roofs.

The house she was approaching was once white, but now had patches of grey as the unkempt wall paint started to fade and rot. The wooden front door was swinging...revealing the darkness within. It hit the door frame with every small breeze making the house slightly scary to look in.

_Something seems too odd here_, Rouge thought as for the first time she made eye contact with the black feathered crows.

"Rouge?" Knuckles' voice sounded very concerned as he began to follow her, Shadow and Sonic not noticing as Shadow was still busy trying to bribe the unusually silent Sonic to speak.

Rouge hesitantly touched her gloved hand to the rotting door, her eyes filled with caution and sympathy as she slowly pushed it open. It opened with a loud creak to reveal the ruins of the house.

Carpets were filthy and kitchen equipment lay all over the kitchen floor, the thickest layer of dust Rouge had ever seen blanketed the room...the thick dust of seven years past. Her heels tapped the wooden floor boards and crunched on glass shards, breaking the unbearable silence as she stared bewildered at what was once a beloved home.

Paintings were not straight as they threatened to fall off their rusty nails and smash on the floor, the painting impossible to see through the filth that had built up in the frame. Her eyes suddenly had tears building up at trying to picture what would have made them so desperate to abandon their homes so suddenly.

Finally she stopped in the middle of the room...in the middle of the chaos. As she looked at the true horror of what was once a house she finally managed to find what had caught her eye earlier. Bending down onto her knees onto the torn yellow rug of the living room a single tear fell from her eyes. There, on the floor, lay a beautiful pure gold necklace sparkling in the sunlight pouring through the shattered window. It had a diamond embedded in the locket, the golden chain snapped.

Rouge lowered her hand to it to pick it up, her fingers stretching out to it. Her fingers brushed against its smooth edge. Suddenly she screamed as an agonising pain pierced her mind. The crows on the roof scattered.

"**Mummy, where are we going?" the voice of an innocent child spoke as the mother was rushing around the kitchen frantically, causing pots and pans to clatter to the floor.**

**Outside the glass window a red blazing sky filed the darkness of the night, people all running screaming in terror as smoke rose from the distance. A Giant wolf-like beast was prowling the streets.**

"**We must leave, darling," The mother cried out. "Or all else is lost."**

"**MUM." The girl cried out in pain as her mother grabbed her long sleeved white top but missed. She had grabbed a golden locket around her neck and had yanked on it causing the chain to snap and for the necklace to fall to the floor. The mother realised this and violently grabbed the girls arm and forced their way into the streets, the dust flying around as they ran. The girl was screaming for her locket, but her pleas were unheard over the roars of everyone else screaming in panic.**

"**...I am sorry Pearl." Her mother soothed as she watched her daughter cry an ocean of tears.**

"ROUGE!"

Rouge suddenly opened her eyes. She was lying on the floor sweating and panting. Knuckles was there shaking her shoulders, his eyes wide with fright. He stopped shaking her as he realised she had finally snapped out of it. She shot up, looking at the ruined room that only seconds ago she saw as normal, her sapphire eyes swimming in confusion.

"What happened?" knuckles demanded as he looked at the golden locket within Rouges clasped hand.

"I...I think I just had a vision from the past." She stuttered as she rose to her feet with Knuckles' support.

Knuckles led her out of the wrecked house to come face to face with Shadow with Sonic in his arms, his ruby eyes glaring daggers into Knuckles' violet ones. He had heard Rouge scream.

"You will explain to me later, but I managed to get where we have to go from Sonic." Shadow said dryly as he looked at Sonic with soft ruby eyes.

The blue hedgehog immediately hid his face into Shadows chest fur with shame and fear of what was about to come...what if his family's bodies were still there.


	28. Sonics old house and memories return

Sonics old house and memories return

The birch tree leaves rustled in the calm breeze as the clear blue sky permitted them the luxury of the sun to help calm their nerves, Sonics mostly. The small forest of birch trees was just how it should be, no marsh land, no dying plants and no silence. Crickets chirped in the green grass surrounding the trees, the white bark of those birch trees as white as they should be and filled with life. However, no birds sang here and the cawing of the crows was far away in the distance.

Rouge had recovered from her little incident with the locket and had decided to keep it, knowing that it was from someone she knew. Knuckles however was mortified when Rouge had told him and had refused for her to keep it, but Knuckles easily lost the fight with Rouge and now was walking with an irritated edge to his steps. Rouge gave him a seductive look and a wink every now and then making Knuckles face keep turning red with a blush.

"Don't worry Hun, I will be fine." Rouge said cockily as she skipped ahead of him just to tease him, blowing him a kiss in the process as her wings caused her to slightly glide gracefully as she skipped.

She had taken Shadows glove with the string off of her wing earlier before they had entered this peaceful forest, just encase she needed to fly out in an emergence.

Sonic kept suddenly looking around as if he was afraid something was going to suddenly jump out at him. His unmoveable legs starting to twitch again, but this time it was prominent enough for Shadow to notice. Shadow cocked an eyebrow at him, thinking it was only because he was frightened of returning to the place that held so many nightmares. He let it go, not realising what Sonics twitching legs truly meant.

"We are almost there." Sonic stated quietly.

Shadow nodded, in a way he missed the old cocky Sonic. Sonic showed his old self every now and then, but it was not the same as when he was always like it and getting into trouble. Sonic losing his mobility had completely changed him allowing Shadow to see a softer and more emotional side of the cocky hero. He liked the soft side which he could comfort...but he missed the old days.

Sonics legs twitched again and even Sonic finally noticed. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to think of why he was twitching so much, he wasn't that frightened was he. Shadow, noticing Sonics obvious confusion with his own actions started to rethink about Sonics legs.

As they travelled the trees started to turn black again, but this time it was because they had been burnt by the fire seven years ago, the fire had engulfed Sonics house and part of the forest. Rouge touched the blackened bark, it felt rough and almost fell off the tree trunk when she had touched it. She immediately recoiled in shock as the piece of burnt bark fell to the grass.

"I think I see the roof," Rouge said excitedly as she walked closer to Knuckles. "We are almost there."

Sonic felt his heart jolt and thought it had stopped; a freezing sensation gripped his body as those words echoed in his head and made his breathing became ragged. _We can't be there already, not now, NOT EVER! _Sonics thoughts screamed as he clutched Shadows neck tighter, his concentration on his thoughts causing his legs to twitch a bit harder.

"Don't worry too much; if they are still there...I will make sure you don't see." Shadow whispered into Sonics blue ear causing Sonic to shiver and a pink blush to form on his face. Even in dire situations Shadow still had this affect on him.

After that point Sonic relaxed a lot more, but the grey and burnt surroundings stopped him from relaxing completely. Even though seven years had passed nothing had grown from the ashes and strangely enough the ashes hadn't been blown or washed away after so many years. It was as if the place was cursed to remain dead forever.

"Why is it taking so long?" Rouge growled infuriated as it seemed they were only a little bit nearer than before.

Although Rouge had spotted the roof earlier it seemed they were walking for another half an hour at least until it started to become closer. _Well, I think you will figure out why,_ Sonic thought with the first smirk he had given for a while.

They started to travel up hill, the birch trees now completely black or burnt to the ground and the once green grass a grey mess beneath them. All were surprised that it still looked like this over seven years later.

Sunlight poured through a gap in the trees up ahead, the gap that was their exit. They all sped up with new found hope as the sunlight got brighter and brighter. All panting as they began to sprint and Rouge fly as they dodge the blackened and ash coated trees. Sonic gripped tighter as Shadow sped up which caused a strong breeze to ruffle his head spikes. The light grew brighter. They drew closer.

With their ragged breaths being carried on the wind they burst through the gap, gasping for breath as they managed to escape the peaceful forest. All was white as they were blinded momentarily by the pure sunlight. But as their eyesight began to adjust all went silent and it seemed that everyone had stopped breathing when they saw what they saw. There, what was supposed to be Sonics house, was actually a giant mansion.

"This is your HOUSE!" Rouge gaped at the giant building; it had four to five floors at least. She turned to Sonic with pure surprise written all over face which Sonic just smirked at.

"Well, to be honest I wouldn't call it my old house...it was our holiday home." Sonic sniggered as Rouges mouth practically hit the ground as she gaped.

_Sonics family was rich, if this is his holiday home then I will be amazed to see the size of his actual home back then_, Shadow thought as he also gave Sonic a shocked expression, the blue hedgehog was taking it as if it was normal and just shrugged at them.

Sonics mansion was very unstable, anyone could see that. As the wind blew you could hear the creaking in the air of the burnt floors and to be honest it was lucky it was still standing after all the torment of the fire. All the windows were smashed and hardened puddles of solid glass lay around the window frames, the burning embers so hot that day that they melted the glass itself. The whole building was black and burnt; no other colours apart from grey and black covered the once rich building. A coat of thick ash covered the building like a thick blanket of snow.

"Shall we," Shadow sighed; it was more of a command rather than a question.

Sonics sudden confidence boast from everyone's expressions from seeing his holiday home suddenly drained from his very body, he paled considerably as Shadow started making his way through up the steps that led to the empty double door frame of what was once the entrance. They were, at last, at their final destination...and Sonic was not very comfortable.

Sonic started to struggle in Shadows arms, catching Shadow by surprise as he had to stop. Sonic was whimpering with his eyes closed, he was resisting badly and was refusing to calm down. Shadow tried whispering calm things into Sonics ear, but even that wouldn't put the blue one at peace. Sonic was frightened and did not want to go in no mater what.

"Sonic will you please stay still." Shadow growled as he dodged a hit to his face from Sonics flailing arms, his patience was wearing thin.

"NO! I WON'T GO BACK IN THERE!" Sonic screamed causing Shadow to become temporarily deaf and growl in frustration, but the black one held firm and kept walking towards the front door. But Sonic struggled harder as he approached the empty door frame.

**The burning doors burst open. Orange light, blinding light everywhere he looked. The flames had taken the carpets, the curtains anything material was enveloped in the engulfing flames. **

"**MUM!" He called in desperate need. No answer came, just the crackling of the embers. He ran up the stairs. Suddenly the roof gave way above him. A large timber support beam plummeted towards him. He scrambled up the stairs faster just missing the burning wood.**

"You go ahead," Shadow ordered to Rouge and knuckles. "You have the crystal key anyway Rouge, I will catch up."

Rouge just nodded in affirmation before both her and Knuckles entered Sonics mansion. They were gone for a minute or two before Shadow then turned to Sonic who was trembling with his eyes so tightly shut that his eye lids could tear. He felt a sudden pang of pain hit his heart as seeing Sonic in such a state pulled at his heart strings.

"You need to calm down," Shadow stated gently as Sonic was nearly over the edge in a panic attack. "You need to clear your mind and push the thoughts away."

"I CAN'T!" Sonic cried as he covered his eyes with his hands, the memories causing too great a pain.

**More burning walls collapsed. Half the house was going down and it could take him with it. What he saw was frightening, so disgusting that it etched itself in his minds eye forever.**

**His family lay on the floor...slaughtered. Slaughtered like animals. Sonia was lying on the floor, her heart pierced with a razor knife. Manic had been shot through his head that even now still leaked his blood. But the thing that scared the last of his sanity away was, that even through the bright orange glow of the deadly flames his mother was a shadow against the wall. Sonic felt like he was going to be sick as he fell to floor and gagged on the sight. His mother...was pinned by her wrists and her ankles against the wall with a huge hole in her chest where her heart had once been.**

**Here his family lay...murdered.**

"I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD!" Sonic suddenly burst out as the memory came back so vivid, so disgusting, that tears started to fall from his mind seeing himself as eight years old again staring at his mother's corpse through the orange glow of the flickering flames.

**Here his family lay...murdered.**

"SHADOW DO SOMETHING!" He begged as those last words echoed through his fragile mind again and again, his mind threatening to drive him insane as the picture kept returning.

Shadow didn't hesitate in sitting down outside the house, his back slumped up against the wall as he cradled Sonic in an attempt to calm the others panicking form. A cool, quiet and gentle wind started to form as they sat together leaning against the mansion that had become such a burden. Carefully raising his hand Shadow began to hesitantly pet behind Sonics ears, not sure how he would react to such a gesture.

Sonic seemed to tense for a couple of seconds, his breath hitching as he felt Shadows bare black fingers smoothly rub against the sensitive spot behind his ears. He remained like this for at least half a minute, before he finally started to relax to the touch, his trembling body ceasing and slumping up against Shadows body. As he relaxed, he buried his face into Shadows white chest fur, catching the black one off guard for a moment. But Shadow just slowly smiled before continuing his touches.

"See, relaxing isn't so bad." Shadow whispered in his low, yet sexy tone, into Sonics ear making his blue counter part blush again.

"Through the abyss of eternal darkness, the darkness of past crimes, we shall venture forward even though we started as rivals, we shall embrace it...together," Shadow played with his words like he had done when Sonic had first returned from the hospital after discovering that he was disabled. Sonic immediately stopped whimpering and just listened. "Remember, if I didn't care I wouldn't be here, and I do care about you. I care about you very deeply"

"Very deeply?" Sonic questioned suspiciously as he raised his head to make eye contact with Shadow, his eyes had no tears since he had already cried everything he had at the very beginning of this entire journey.

"Are you ready now?" Shadow asked softly whilst still gently petting behind his ears.

Sonic just stared at him in disbelief, but he nodded reluctantly knowing he did not have much choice. Shadow took this as the final answer, and so stood up with Sonic in his arms and once again started up the steps into the depths of a horrid memory.


	29. The keyhole

The keyhole

Sonic braced himself as they entered the relatively dark building; it was not completely dark since where parts of the roof and ceiling had collapsed sunlight poured through.

Dust hovered in the air around them, the sunlight allowing them to see it. The crumbling, burnt and decaying wood was damp from where the previous storm's rain had dripped through the holes in the ceiling and onto the wooden floor. By the looks of things the fire fighters that day only just managed to save the house from collapsing into a heap.

Every floor board they stepped on either bent unnervingly under his feet because it was damp or it creaked because of just how ancient it was; Causing Shadow to be extra careful and choose his steps carefully knowing that if the floor gave way it wouldn't just be his life on the line.

Sonic was strangely silent, not even whimpering as he glanced around what was once his home. He glanced up the set of stairs that once had a red carpet up its steps, at the top of those steps was Rouge waiting patiently. But Sonic felt very unset by this, where Rouge was standing now, was exactly the place where he had seen his mother alive for the last time. It was where Aleena had given her last smile and goodbyes to him.

"I think we found something." Rouge called to them as she started walking to the right at the top of the stairs and disappeared into a corridor.

Shadow ran up the stairs, dodging a giant piece of timber wood that had fallen from the ceiling years ago, the same timber pillar Sonic had just missed during the fire. The whole place was completely wrecked beyond repair, where all material things had been such as curtains and carpets were now bare since they had been burnt to complete ashes. Tapestries of Sonics ancestry and family were also gone since they once lined the wall of the corridor they were now walking down as they followed Rouge.

Where vases had lain on the now black tables were puddles of solid white pottery where they had gotten so hot that they melted. The burnt table legs weak and threatening buckle under their own weight. It was only then did Sonic realise where they were actually heading. They were heading to the room where his family's bodies were. Sonic immediately went white as he paled.

"Were there...any bodies in there?" Sonic struggled to get out, his voice sounding hoarse and dry.

"No," Rouge stated quietly, pity laced within her voice at realising who exactly those bodies Sonic was talking about were. "No bodies, there is just dried blood."

Sonic almost went green at hearing the last part and braced himself as they walked towards an unbelievably burnt door that had chunks missing out of its wood. The golden handle slightly deformed from the heat of the flames. Rouge silently grabbed the golden door knob and pushed the door open. It creaked unbearably loudly and opened to reveal Knuckles standing in the middle of the room fiddling with his bone whistle, his violet eyes scanning the room from top to bottom.

This room was very bright and when Sonic looked around he realised why. The wall to their right was completely missing, but this made Shadow very suspicious because, a fire could not easily destroy a brick wall. He narrowed his ruby eyes at the giant gap in the wall and Sonic admired his gorgeous rubies when he was thinking.

Rouge took out the crystal key and placed it on the floor near Shadow and Sonic, both gave her an inquisitive look.

"Because it is Sonics mothers, I think we are more reliable to find something if it is in Sonics hands," She said simply. "We are going to explore the rest of the building." And with that Rouge gave a signal to Knuckles and both left the room, her heels tapping on the wooden floor as they left the two remaining hedgehogs to their thoughts.

"I thought she said she had found something." Shadow snarled with agitation as he placed Sonic down in a sitting position on the floor.

Sonics legs were twitching now more than ever making it look like a muscle spasm and Shadow was starting to get seriously concerned about it since it seemed that even Sonic didn't know the reason. After looking at Sonic and waiting for him to nod that he was okay he started to walk around the room, his arms crossed as they used to always be as he explored the room. Shadow had missed crossing his arms, when he had a broken arm he couldn't cross them at all.

Suddenly something on a shelf under a large mirror on the wall caught his ruby gaze. It was a crystal collection, completely untouched and obviously strangely unaffected by the heat and embers that day. But it was not this that had caught his eye.

The crystal holders that were lined up next to each other had one holder missing a crystal, the holder in the middle of the line that was probably the biggest of them all. Narrowing his eyes he approached the colourful crystal collection, all the different colours really dazzling as they sparkled in the sunlight: There were red, purple, yellow, green and even a transparent one...but the holder in the middle was still empty.

His eyes widened as he suddenly dashed across the room and smoothly swept the blue crystal off of the floor where Rouge had left it, not stopping to talk to Sonic who was watching him whilst trying to figure out what was wrong with his legs, the spasm was getting worse by the minute.

Shadow quickly went back over to the crystal collection with the beautiful sapphire key in tow and slowly raised his arm with the crystal in hand. Carefully, yet slowly, he hovered the crystal above the empty holder. Sweat started to form on his brow as he, unbearably slowly, lowered the crystal into the holder. A clink filled the air as the crystal fit perfectly.

"It seems that this whole incident is definitely related to your past." Shadow was not surprised as he stepped aside and allowed Sonic to see the crystal fitting perfectly back into its old holder, the blue hedgehogs eyes also wide as he too realised it all fit into place...but why.

"What has this got to do with anything though?" Sonic asked as he gave a hefty sigh before laying his head back against the burnt walls.

"...I don't know." Shadow confessed inaudibly, putting pressure on his forehead as a headache started to form.

The silent and still atmosphere was very unsettling as Sonic saw the blood stains on the wall from seven years ago from where his mother had been pinned. The image made him grimace and he immediately looked away with a shudder...to find something else.

Sonic suddenly stopped lazing around, his eyes narrowing as he spotted something he hadn't spotted before. Even as a child he didn't pay much attention to it, but in the middle of the wooden floor boarded room was a giant square slap of wood that was completely different to all the others. Now that he was older he found this awfully suspicious.

Shadow gave him a confused looked before following the others gave to his hover shoes, Shadow was standing on the giant square slab of wood and realising that this was what Sonic was looking at instantly stepped off. Noticing the difference in flooring himself he too found this an unusual and sceptical use of flooring.

He kneeled down to closer examine the slab and immediately noticed something. He mouth upturned into a smile as he realised all too soon what it was. Sonic just gave him strange looks from his position against the wall.

"What is it? What have you found?" Sonic asked excitedly as Shadow brushed his bare fingers against the ash covered slab.

"Haven't you noticed?" Shadow smirked as he made eye contact with Sonic, the other shaking his head clueless. "Look at the floor."  
"I know there is a slab of different shaped wood on the floor Shadow." Sonic said sarcastically and Shadow palm smacked his forehead.

"NO! Look more carefully." Shadow growled exasperatedly as he waited for his blue counter part to finally click, Sonic didn't seem to get it and so just shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.

"Look at the patterns on the wood, the way the lines of the tree flow. All the other floor boards in this room have all their lines heading in a vertical direction...this slab however," Shadow paused as he brushed the ash more off the slab so Sonic could see. "Has its lines horizontal...as if it had been moved and put back the wrong way."

"You're a genius!" Sonic was gobsmacked that Shadow had figured something like this out.

Shadow just smirked and managed to hook his fingers under the slab with quite a lot of difficulty, he carefully lifted the square slab off of the floor, but because the slab was bigger than him he had to completely remove it and push it to the side. It was very heavy and a tiring experience.

"Does the ultimate life-form need a workout?" Sonic laughed as Shadow glowered at him, but he ignored the blue ones twisted sense of humour so he could look at what was bellow the slab.

Below the slab of wood was concrete. _That is odd, we are on the second floor and there is concrete...that isn't natural. _Shadow thought suspiciously as he now realised why this floor hadn't collapsed in the fire, it was supported by concrete. In the middle of the concrete was a strange hole, it didn't look like an ordinary hole though, yet it didn't look like a keyhole either. The hole had different shaped sides and Shadow had to squint as he noticed a small engraving in the corner of the concrete floor that had been revealed by removing the square wooden slab. There, scratched very faintly...was a date.

"We've found it." Shadow smirked as he got up, snatched the crystal key from its holder where he had left it and hurried back to the key hole. Sonics words from the past echoed through his mind and also his own words from when he had discovered the crystal was a key.

"**Sonic told me, that his mother had a special way of doing things." He began, still keeping his promise to Sonic by not telling personal details, or telling them about her murder. "She liked to do things by dates, by dates of which things were made. His mother designed the keys and the objects that they belonged to. The way it worked was that the key and the object would have the same date that they were made engraved on them, this showed that a key with a pacific date would open the object which also had the same date."**

Shadow picked Sonic up off of the floor and brought him over to the key hole, gently putting him down next to it before taking the crystal key and getting ready to put it in its keyhole.

"**Well, as I said, this crystal is not what it seems. When you look through the crystal at a pacific angle it reveals something." Shadow suddenly took the crystal from Rouges hand and slowly started twisting it in his fingers in the air so the other two could see.**

**Shadow suddenly reached the right angle and both Tails and Rouge gasped. There, as plain as day, a year number could be seen through the crystal. The different cuts did have a purpose, they showed the date.**

"**So, basically, are you telling us that this crystal is in fact a key made by Sonics mother?" Rouge asked with excitement at finally finding something. Shadow gave a small sigh.**

Shadow slowly started to put the key into the hole at the right angle, the tension in the air so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

"**No, I am saying that this is a key to open something**

The key fell into the lock perfectly with a click.

**...something in Sonics old house.**

Nothing happened, Shadow sat back wondering if it did do something. But nothing came.

"What?" he said infuriated, just about to hit it with his fist.

"Maybe you put it in the wrong way." Sonic said next to Shadow as he stretched his arm out to the crystal to replace its position.

"No, it clicked to signal that..." Shadow suddenly stopped and stared at the crystal in the keyhole with wide eyes. When Sonics hand had gotten near enough it had begun to glow.

"It's you! Only you can open it!" Shadow gasped as Sonic hesitated at also seeing the crystal react to his presence.

Sonic froze for a minute, wondering why only he could make the key work. He completely put his hand onto the glowing crystal to suddenly jump as another click filled their ears...there were two locks. The last lock only Sonic could open.

The crystal began to glow brighter and brighter and the sound of moving rock filled their ears as rumbling could be felt down below. The house shook violently attracting the attention to something that shouldn't be there.

Shadow recoiled dragging Sonic with him as they sat on the floor a fair distance away as they watched the concrete in the middle of the room slide away, dust and ash flew into the air as the vibrating continued down below. Steps suddenly started to slide out from within the hole that was once concrete, a twirling staircase made out of stone rumbled as it forced itself out. Rubble fell down the steps as all that could be seen was darkness down the staircase.

When the rumbling had finally subsided as if by magic a torch on the stone wall of the staircase set alight with green flames, then the next torch, and the next torch, the green light illuminating the darkness down the stairs and giving it an eerie look. Both Shadow and Sonic looked at each other in shock, unaware that this happening was magic and had caught the attention of something.

"It seems that you are the real key Sonic...the real key to this mystery." Shadow managed to gasp out as he stared in awe at the stone staircase.

"Bet you're glad you brought me along huh?" Sonic sniggered and Shadow just smirked in response, before he picked up Sonic bridal style and started to make his way down the steps.

As an after thought he suddenly grabbed the crystal key from its keyhole, they could need it later. The crystal immediately started glowing within Sonics clasped hands and did not cease, it just kept glowing.

It was very cold and the steps just seemed to go on and on, Shadows hover shoes tapping on the stone steps as they descended into the unknown. The green flames casted their shadows against the freezing cold stone as they continued down the twirling staircase.

Sonics emerald green eyes were filled with curiosity and something akin to anxiety as they kept going down deeper, the crystal in his hands glowing wildly and giving another source of comfort. His legs were twitching non-stop now and it was starting to bug Sonic. But his thoughts instantly came to a halt as after about five minutes of climbing further down the stairs a pitch black room finally came into view.

It smelt damp and the sound of a scurrying rat could be heard in the darkness, Shadow froze as the strange sensation of tension was like gravity. Cautiously, he took a step. The room suddenly lit up causing him to jump as the torches in the room set alight with green flames. One at a time the torches lit on each wall, revealing a relatively huge room.

The room was made of pure stone and it was obvious that this place was far under the ground, the hidden room was like the mansions cellar. The room was big enough to fit sixty cars in at the least and Sonic looked around in amazement at all the giant dusty crates with strange symbols on them, barrels and loads of old furniture lay next to the crates untouched by the fire years ago.

Rats screeched at the intruders and quickly scurried off, hissing at the green flames since they were used to permanent darkness. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling like never ending string and Shadow was lucky that he didn't notice the many spiders crawling around the stone arches above his head as he walked further into the room.

All of the torches were now finally lit, the room so big that it made it take a while. Immediately Sonics breath hitched as he saw something in the middle of the room that made him completely

Freeze. A giant mirror was right in the middle of the room, bigger than a house as it stood supported by giant chains connected to the ceiling. The green lights reflecting off of the mirror as it stood there strong and proud. But that was only the second thing that made his blood run cold.

"Shadow..." Sonic whispered as Shadow followed his gaze to something lying right next to the mirror on the stone floor.

There, Lying on the floor...was Sonics father.

"**Is there anything you are forgetting?" Shadow asked sternly, he had moved away from Sonic since he had felt uncomfortable when he had stopped crying and had full awareness of himself again.**

"**Yeah, there is something," Sonic started, narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember. "They think my father committed the crime. My father's body was not there, meaning he had not been killed. The police immediately suspected that my father had committed the crime...but there is one thing that does not make sense. If my father did do it, why did he spare me? He wanted me to go to the shops and whilst I went the crime was made, doesn't that seem odd to you?"**

"My father was here...the whole time," Sonics voice broke as Shadow walked towards the giant mirror, their reflection could be seen even when they were at the entrance since the mirror was so large. "My father didn't kill my family...but if he didn't then who did?"

Shadow slowly and gently put Sonic on the cold stone floor next to his father, his rubies too distracted with the huge mirror. Sonics father looked exactly like him; the only difference was he had yellow eyes. Sonic had inherited his mother's emerald coloured eyes. His father was staring at the ceiling lifeless, his body untouched by the rats for some unknown reason.

Sonic put the glowing crystal down which immediately stopped glowing at losing contact with him, he put his hand to his father's cold face as he tried to figure out why.

"Are you alright?" Shadow asked softly, finally forcing his eyes away from the mirror and his own reflection, the mirror was strangely enchanting. The whole room was so unusual; it had a strange aura flowing through it that made Shadow cautious and ready at all times.

"I just, don't understand." Sonics voice bounced off the walls as it echoed, the green flames swaying calmly as he spoke. "...It makes no sense."

Shadow sighed before turning back to the mirror. He almost had a heart attack. His eyes went wide. Where they had come in the giant wolf-like beast was staring right them. He spun around getting himself into a battle stance. The beast was only ten metres away from them. Its bright red eyes burning into Shadows rubies, fire against fire.

"SONIC!" Shadow screamed as it charged towards them, its body so large it only just managed to not hit its head on the high ceiling. The room rumbled as it charged towards them, rubble and dust falling from the ceiling as it threatened to collapse on them.

"What's going on?" Sonic suddenly gasped out, his father's body had begun to glow blue just like the crystal. Bright blue lights shot from his father's body.

The wolfish beast slowed down and growled at them, slobber dripping disgustingly onto the stone floor as the lights flashed towards it. It reminded them of when Tikal had done the soul summon back in the marshy forest. A loud howl pierced their skulls as the lights entered the beast, the beast collapsing onto the ground with a loud thump straight afterwards. All went silent.

Shadow remained in battle stance, on guard as he waited for what could happen. The green flames started to die down and Sonic looked around in panic as the room slowly started to fall into darkness. The green light got dimmer and dimmer. The wolfish beasts' body suddenly started to dissipate into black smoke. The black smoke swirled around Shadows legs. A cold tingling sensation shivered up his spine. All went black as the flames disappeared.

The only light in the room was the blue crystal that Sonic had grabbed quickly to make it glow. Shadow growled with his gloveless fists clenched in the air as his fang glinted menacingly. Nothing happened. All was silent and Deadly still.

A cold evil laugh filled the air. The laugh echoed off the stone walls. Shadows head darted around to try and find the source. But it was too dark to see anything. As a last resort he let his guard down to turn back to the mirror. Shadow panted as his heart raced. He almost dropped dead as his heart pounded in his ears. In the mirror, right next to him...a shady figure stood.

"MEPHILES!"

END OF CHAPTER

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? NEXT IS THE BIG FINALE! HOPE YOU ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. I am only going to put up the next chapter when I get some more reviews. So please, if anyone is reading my story at all please don't hesitate to review, it helps with encouragement. THE TENSION AND SUSPENSE IS ON!


	30. Big battle final outcome

Big battle final outcome

"It was you! You were the beast this whole time!" Shadow snarled as he turned away from the mirror in the darkness to find Mephiles supposedly standing right next to him, but there was nothing there. The only light was Sonic holding the crystal key making it glow.

"Indeed. I bet with your small and puny little minds you didn't comprehend this. You're minds are probably so small that they are confused. You pathetic mortals." Mephiles laughed evilly as Shadow turned back to the mirror with a growl to see Mephiles still standing right next to him in the reflection.

"Well, if you're so high and mighty why don't you explain to us?" Sonic shouted from the floor where he sat next to his dead father.

Shadow looked away from the mirror in attempt to find Mephiles standing right next to him, but every time he looked he found empty space. Turning back to the mirror to always find Mephiles still standing next to him in the reflection, it was almost as if Mephiles was in another dimension to them...the dimension of darkness.

"Fine, if you really want to know," Mephiles had a threatening tone to his voice as in his reflection he crossed his arms. "You're father was a traitor, me and him worked together all that time over seven years ago. In other words...you're father was as evil as me."

"I don't believe that!" Sonic yelled in disbelief, his father...evil.

"Of course you wouldn't...he was always kind to his family," Mephiles' soul churning green eyes had a flicker of disgust in them as he paused. "However deep down he was evil, but not evil enough. He betrayed me. I think it's best if I show you...it would make more sense."

And with that Mephiles clicked his fingers, the click echoing around the room as his reflection suddenly vanished. Mephiles suddenly appeared right next to Shadow. Black smoke surrounded the mirror making chills crawl up Shadows spine again as it swept over his shoes. Sonic clutched the crystal key tighter and watched with fearless eyes at the mirror that would make everything become clear.

The mirror started to tremble; the giant chains attached to the ceiling that were supporting it rattled violently threatening to snap. The reflection of the room went fuzzy, before it morphed into a scene.

"**Please! You must listen to me! WE MUST LEAVE NOW!" Sonics father begged to his family. Manic,** **Sonia and his wife Aleena all looked at him as if he had gone mad.**

"**Darling...I think you need a lie down." Aleena coaxed as she was taken aback by the strange behaviour.**

"**NO! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Sonics father was going stir crazy, if he didn't get them out soon.**

"**But why darling, what could possibly be the matter?" Aleena was frightened, but still had the same gentle voice as ever.**

"**I can't tell you that. But if you don't get out soon we are all going to die." He shouted frantically, his topaz eyes filled with fear.**

"**Don't say that! You will frighten the kids!" Aleena yelled, tears forming in her eyes. "You have gone mad; you have been disappearing into the forest late at night...and not returning until the morning. You have gone mad I say!"**

**With that Aleena turned on her heels and walked up the stairs, her beautiful dress swaying gracefully behind her as she ignored her husbands' mad rants.**

"**Aleena please...you must lis-"  
"ENOUGH!" She turned around abruptly; her usually calm emerald eyes filled with disgrace at her husband's behaviour. "Its over...we're done." **

**Five minutes later Aleena had calmed down and Sonia and Manic were doing their normal things...but Sonics father was biting the fingertips of his gloves, what more could he do? Suddenly Sonic came running into the room, his face as smiley as ever. He knew then what he had to do.**

"**Sonic, can you go to the shop to get some milk?" **

"**Alright dad." Replied an eight year old Sonic that had just grabbed the money and was now heading towards the door.**

"**Come back soon honey." His mother was standing at the top of stairs waving kindly to him; the stairs had a soft red carpet over the top.**

"**Be back soon bro, I want us to do some rocking on our instruments." Manic poked his head around a corner pointing at Sonic with his drum sticks.**

"**Gees I am only going to get milk, I'm not going on vacation or something." Sonic laughed as he shut the door.**

Sonic gasped, this was what had happened before his father had asked him to go to the shops. His ears flattened to his head in sadness and Mephiles grinned evilly at the outcome...a broken Sonic.

"There is more...if you would care to watch." Mephiles words dripped with luxury at seeing the blue hedgehogs' pain and suffering.

"You leave him alone you bloody git." Shadows voice was very menacing as he glared at Mephiles for upsetting Sonic in such a way, Mephiles turned to him pretending to look offended.

**Sonics father ran into the collection room, the crystal collection lay under the mirror on a shelf. He swiped the blue one from its holder with shaky hands, quickly removed the square wooden slab in the middle of the floor and put the crystal in the hole. Immediately two clicks filled the air one after the other before the rumbling of stone could be felt beneath him, his hands were trembling the entire time.**

**As the green torches lit automatically one after the other he ran down the first few steps...but stopped. He turned back and grabbed the giant square slab of wood from where he was within the hole and slid it back over so it would be back into place, the piece of square wood being put back the wrong way as he did so. The light from the outside world disappeared as the wooden slab completely covered the hole. **

**He then grabbed the crystal key from the concrete, muttered a few words and the concrete came back into place above him as if he had never been down there. The concrete now completely sealed him away from the rest of the world. Sonics father...knew magic.**

"Your father was a coward, running away from his fate like that," Mephiles would have grinned evilly if he had a mouth. "But I still found him."

**Panting Sonics father ran down the stairs at top speed, entering the room to the flashing of the green torches lighting simultaneously revealing the giant mirror. Sweat dripped from him as adrenaline filled his every move, Mephiles would be coming.**

**Suddenly muffled screaming could be heard from above in the mansion and absolute panic breaking loose. He could hear furniture being pushed over as his family tried to escape the flames that Mephiles had summoned on their house, tears fell from his eyes as he heard the undeniable painful screams of his wife and his beloved two children...but at least Sonic was safe. Suddenly everything went deadly silent. He pricked his ears as he waited.**

"**You are a pathetic and weak soul, and I thought that you would be worthy to work with me," Mephiles appeared from the shadows of the room, not needing a door to get anywhere. "But you are not completely weak, sacrificing your family like that...how evil and self-centred of you." **

"**I DID NOT WANT TO!" Sonics father shouted as tears still kept falling.**

"**I know you didn't...that's what makes you weak." Mephiles laughed evilly as he stepped towards him, Sonics father taking a step back.**

"**All you're family are dead, submit yourself to your fate...you have nothing else." Mephiles started to create a ball of black smoke in his palm waiting for the others reaction.**

_**Not all my family**_**, he thought with a smile as he prepared himself**_**, I have saved the strongest of them all...Sonic.**_

"**I won't go down with out a fight Mephiles, you taught me that." He snarled as he too created a black ball of smoke in his palm.**

"Your father was my student and I was his teacher. Every time he went to the forest in the middle of the night he was actually training to become a dark magic wielder like me. I taught him everything...

**Sonics father suddenly put out his black smoke ball, the blue crystal key glowing with blinding light in his hand. Mephiles widened his eyes in surprise, Sonics father wasn't going to...**

...Which was my foolish mistake." Mephiles finished with a growl.

**...Sonics father began to chant in an unknown language with his eyes closed. Mephiles charged at him wanting to stop him before it was too late. He raised his smoke ball, ready to hit Sonics father. At the last second Sonics father opened his topaz eyes, unknown confidence swimming in them as he forced his arm out and grabbed Mephiles chest. Mephiles coughed violently as Sonics father finished the spell with the final words...the spell called the soul transfer.**

**The crystal was still in his other hand as the other gripping Mephiles' chest began to glow.**

"**NO!" Mephiles screamed as he tried to struggle free, Sonics father just smiled.**

"**You know this spell Mephiles, once I have gripped you, you cannot get away. Your end is near!" Sonics father smiled evilly as a blue light started to drain from Mephiles, travelling up Sonics fathers arm that was gripping Mephiles chest. But something happened that he did not expect.**

"Yes I was foolish to teach him everything, but I never taught him a spells weakness." Mephiles let out a full-blown laugh as all watched the mirror replay the event.

"**Wh-Whats happening?" Sonics father gasped as Mephiles' soul transferred into his own body but his own soul travelled up the other arm holding the crystal key. His soul was transferring into the crystal key.**

"**You are a fool, whilst my soul is transferred through one of your arms into your body...your soul transfers through your other arm into my body. Hence fourth its call the soul transfer...but your other arm is not touching me but that crystal, meaning your soul is about to be lost into it." Mephiles laughed as he coughed, the soul transfer draining his energy, but he wasn't afraid.**

"**Besides," Mephiles whispered. " I have two forms, one a wolf beast and one my true form, meaning my soul is split in two...lets see what half your body takes shall we."**

**Sonics father screamed and so did Mephiles, Sonics fathers soul had been completely drained and had been transferred into the crystal key whilst one half of Mephiles' soul went into Sonics father. At the last moments of the spell Sonics father pushed Mephiles away and teleported him out of the hidden room. Silence filled the room as he collapsed dead onto the floor...with only half a soul his body didn't survive.**

**Mephiles was transported outside the burning mansion, but with a form he did not expect. He had lost his true form to Sonics father...his wolf form still remained. He howled in anger as his giant wolf-like body went to terrorise the villagers. However, a terrible grin plastered his wolf muzzle; Sonics father had transported the crystal key with him.**

"So that's how it happened, however my wolf form was weak, I needed my true form that was locked away in your fathers body." Mephiles informed as he stared at the shocked Sonic on the floor. "I went back into the mansion when everything had calmed down and tried putting the crystal key in, but it only did one lock...it didn't let me through. I realised then that only someone of your family's blood line could get in, your fathers soul within the crystal forbidding me entrance. But I thought I had killed them all." Mephiles paused with an evil snigger.

"That is...until I discovered seven years later that you were the final link, the last member of the blood line. I went to soleanna to grab you and take you here, but Shadow made it difficult. My wolf form can not speak, so my actions spoke for me. I grabbed Sonic and threatened to kill him by squeezing his weak and already battered body to try and get you away Shadow. But that failed and I ended up getting captured by GUN, as a final resort I left the crystal key behind for you to find...which you did."

"Are you telling me that this was your plan all along?" Shadow growled as he stepped in front of Sonic as protection encase something happened.

"You're catching on Shadow, but now I think its time to end this," Mephiles laughed evilly, looking at Sonic as a black smoke ball formed in his palm. "I think it's finally time to kill the last of the traitors' family."

xxxx

"Finally." Blaze gasped out as she forced herself through a wall of tall mushrooms, luckily they hadn't got lost with Silvers powers to help out.

Cleaning her now mucky red spectacles she looked at herself covered in filth from the swamp-like forest. Silver came hovering through the trees, his powers allowing him to not make contact with the horrible marshy ground allowing him to remain clean. Along with the tarantula that had got a liking for sitting on Silvers shoulder.

"Get your camera out Silver," Blaze ordered as she got out her notepad. "This is it, this is where I finally get my story and save my job."  
"But Blaze, our boss said we had a week, it has been over three weeks...it's too late." Silver tried to reason with the strong minded cat but she would not back down.

"NO! The story maybe late but he will be impressed, he will! We are going to keep our jobs Silver." Blaze sounded desperate as if her job was all she had.

Silver gave her a look of pity, but got out his camera anyway. The female tarantula was watching and listening to the conversation.

They walked through the haunted village without a care, not taking any notice of the crows watching their every move from the ruined rooftops. Silver was leading the way, using his powers to scan the area until he finally managed to spot a mansion further away from the village. He could sense five presences within, the fifth one he didn't recognise.

"This way!" Silver called to Blaze who was nosing around the dusty and abandoned streets. She followed the running Silver through another set of trees with Silver flashing away with his camera as he went.

Xxxx

The room was too dark, even with Sonics glowing crystal it was not bright enough to see and comprehend Mephiles moves. Shadow had managed to quickly scope Sonic up and move him out of the way of a smoke ball attack, Sonics legs twitching furiously the whole time.

"Stay here!" Shadow whispered harshly as he hid Sonic behind one of the wooden crates closest to one of the stone walls, the room so large that he had to run to get there.

"I know you're there Shadow, come out and face me." Mephiles taunted as he watched the wooden crate with a ball of purple flames flickering in his hand. He was watching, waiting for him.

Shadow slowly stepped away, signalling to Sonic to stay put. As he moved away from behind the crate he suddenly widened his eyes and dodged the infernal flame attack, unleashing a chaos spear of his own as he jumped into the air. Mephiles easily smacked the chaos spears away as if they were powerless before continuing to hunt his prey. Even though he was actually being sidetracked from his real prey behind the wooden crate.

Mephiles had a huge advantage in the darkness, being able to see Shadow as clearly as if sunlight was blazing into the giant room. However the immense size of the room helped Shadow to use his hover shoes effectively, he had enough room to flexibly dodge with amazing agility in the large space. Bright flashes illumined the room, either it be a yellow chaos spear or a purple flame.

Sonic was watching the battle from behind the crate cursing his twitching legs that he couldn't stand up and avenge his family by killing the God damn monster who was stalking Shadow in the darkness. He glared at his legs. New born determination seized him.

"Come on legs, BUDGE!"

Xxxx

"Down here." Silver said as he led Blaze down the green fire lit torch staircase, suddenly turning his flash off his camera.

Silently they crept down the stairs, not sure what could be behind the turn of the twirling staircase. At the bottom where it was in complete darkness yellow and purple flashes could be seen lighting up the room as a full scaled battle forced on. Blaze narrowed her topaz cat eyes, her move curling into a smile that only felines could do as her tail swished from side to side in excitement.

Like snakes they slithered undetected into the pitch-black room, feeling around for something to hide behind as they looked around constantly alert. Blazes' feline eyes scanning the darkness for any quick movements and sudden attacks as they finally found a set of dusty crates to hide behind.

Every time an attack flashed they could see a glimpse of the two fighting, one was Shadow which they noticed when his bright chaos spear had lit the room...but the other was unknown to them. Silver clicked away with his camera only when one of them unleashed an attack which allowed him to get photos of them properly since the attacks lit up the room enough to actually see. With out a flash it was difficult, but only an idiot would use a flash in complete darkness when they were trying to remain hidden.

"Keep going Silver, the more the better." Blaze whispered as she wrote what was happening on her notepad, panting with exhilaration at the tension and excitement.

"When this is over...you owe me a vacation." Silver said as he pointed to Blaze accusingly before continuing to snap away.

Shadow suddenly dodged another purple flame attack. But he didn't time it correctly! The purple flames skimmed across his black shoulder making him hiss in pain as it burnt his flesh.

Xxxx

"Shadow's in trouble." Rouge said suddenly as her entire body suddenly froze through her search, Knuckles just stared at her strangely.

"How do you know? You're not even in the same room." Knuckles asked unconvinced.

"Trust me Hun, if you have known Shadow for as long as I have you just feel these sorts of things with him." She answered before suddenly taking off, causing Knuckles to drop what ever he was doing and follow in hot pursuit.

Xxxx

"Had enough yet you weak creation?" Mephiles sniggered evilly as he stared gleefully at the still singeing flesh of Shadows shoulder that had smoke rising from it, the black hedgehog panting as he tried to suppress the pain. A new purple flame blazed in his hands.

"No Shadow!" Sonic whispered desperately as he saw Shadow get injured.

It was way too dark to see anything properly and he was starting to realise why Shadow was having trouble. Shadow was having trouble because of the giant mirror in the centre of the room, when he saw the reflections of Mephiles because it was complete darkness he kept mistaking it for the real thing. He needed to get rid of that mirror before he lost all his chaos energy by making such mistakes.

Growling Sonic concentrated. Concentrating harder than he had ever concentrated before. His legs needed to move. THEY NEEDED TO MOVE NOW!

"COME ON!" Sonic hissed in frustration. His thoughts went wild. Sweat dripped from his brow. He suddenly froze. Sonics knee had hit his chest from where he was sitting. He had moved it! "YES!"

"You are the ultimate life-form? More like the ultimate failure." Mephiles continued to taunt the black hedgehog leaning against his knees for support as he stood, the wound in his shoulder throbbing badly in pain as he attempted to hide behind the mirror with his ruby eyes revealing all his agony.

It was then that it hit him. If he could mistake Mephiles' reflection for the real thing then maybe it would work vice versa, but Mephiles' attacks would be stronger and would help bring the mirror down. Shadow grinned; he knew what he had to do. But it would be difficult.

"It seems that your friends are coming to stop us," Mephiles began, staring at the high ceiling as he sensed Rouges presence above. "But I can't afford interruptions." With that he clicked his fingers and his dark minions materialized from black smoke around him, waiting for Mephiles' nod before they flew up the stairs giggling evilly the whole way.

Shadows confidence faltered, if he had to do something it would have to be quick. He glanced at Sonic behind the crate who had the strangest expression of happiness plastered all over his face. Shadow cocked an eyebrow,_ is he on something...why the hell is he smiling._

Xxxx

"WHAT THE?" Knuckles spluttered as they entered the burnt room they had left Shadow and Sonic in to find it crawling with dark creatures. All releasing purple and black smoke as they suddenly charged at them.

"RUN!" Rouge screamed as she turned on her heel and almost ran Knuckles over as she bolted for it.

"What are those things?" Rouge squealed as she grabbed Knuckles' wrist and pulled him along, literally dragging him across the floor.

They ran out into the corridor and dashed down the stairs; the dark creatures easily skipped the stairs and gave chase with unnatural laughter. Knuckles managed to find his feet and ran alongside Rouge with his other arm punching the living daylights out of anyone of them that got too close.

Bursting through the empty double door entrance of the burnt mansion sunlight filled their vision. Rouge and Knuckles forced themselves to adjust to the sunlight and got into a battle stance, each others backs leaning against the other as the creatures encircled them with tormenting laughter.

"We can't fight all of them, USE IT!" Rouge demanded as the circle of dark creatures slowly started to close in on them. Knuckles understood immediately, he thrust the bone whistle over his head and put it to his lips. Taking a deep breath...

Xxxx

"Come out come out wherever you are Shadow." Mephiles enticed as both his palms were alit with purple flames as he stalked slowly through the darkness.

Shadow had managed to hide undetected behind another line of crates and barrels and was crawling slowly behind them, body flush against the dusty stone floor. He was lucky he hadn't come across Silver and Blaze hiding behind the next line of crates behind him, the two frozen afraid that he would spot them.

Mephiles was now closer to the mirror which was what Shadow wanted. Shadow had managed to crawl from where had been in the middle of the room to where he and Sonic had entered the room. The entrance reflection was as clear as day in the mirror. Without warning he threw himself out from the behind the crates as Mephiles was looking straight at the mirror. Immediately Mephiles threw his flames at Shadows reflection. Not taking into account that Shadows reflection looked smaller since he was further away. To Mephiles it didn't matter, it was Shadow...or was it.

The flames hit the mirror full power. The glass cracked loudly as Mephiles took a step back in surprise. Rubble and thick dust fell from the ceiling as the chains gave a sickening snap. The mirror suddenly crashed down onto Mephiles. Thousands of mirror shards scattered across the floor and flew through the air. If only Shadow had known what utter destruction this event would cause above.

Xxxx

...Knuckles blew the bone whistle. No sound came out. He looked behind him at Rouge leaning against his back mortified as their last resort was to fight to the death. They got ready to fight, fists clenched, backs straight and muscles tense as they prepared themselves for their final battle.

All the dark creatures charged at them, their black claws and sharp fangs ready as they got ready for the kill. Rouge shut her eyes at the last second. This was it. Knuckles gently wrapped his mitt around Rouges shaking fingers and locked hands. Rouges' eyes shot open as she looked at knuckles with tears in her eyes.

"FREEZE!"

Suddenly all the creatures froze, not a single muscle moved as if they were frozen in time, a blue glow enveloping them. Rouge and Knuckles opened their eyes as the air suddenly felt very still.

"Are you alright." The same female voice as earlier filled their ears making them turn sharply to see Tikal standing there proudly, her staff against the ground as she smiled fondly at them.

"But...the whistle made no sound." Knuckles croaked out, too surprised to do anything else.

"It makes no sound for anyone else, but I can hear it." Tikal smiled at knuckles' stunned expression and Rouge sighed in relief as she stared at the still frozen monsters around them.

Behind them the house gave a giant cracking sound, dust and ash flew into the air like a sand storm as it suddenly started to collapse right before their eyes. All their eyes widened in shock as the whole mansion came tumbling down, the blackened burnt wood easily snapping like matchsticks as the entire house crashed into a heap.

"SHADOW!" Rouge screamed as Knuckles tried to restrain her, tears welling up and overflowing as they came rolling down her cheeks. Falling to her knees on the floor as she wept.

Xxxx

"OH MY GOD!" Sonic screamed as he forced his legs to help him crawl away from a huge piece of stone that had fallen from the ceiling.

Dust filled the air like a seeping mist as it choked Blaze and Silver, the two trying to resist coughing and attracting attention to themselves. The tarantula that had been on Silvers shoulder the entire time almost fell off and decided to hide away into Silvers spikes for safety.

Shadow coughed violently as he breathed in large amounts of the dust, not realising that his little plan had caused the entire mansion to topple on top of the room, luckily the room didn't collapse with it as well.

He stared at his broken reflection in the many thousands of different sized mirror shards, the entire floor of the gigantic room covered with at least one piece. The mirror shards crunched beneath his feet as he brushed the dust and rubble out of his spikes, his bare black fingers getting slightly cut on sharp pieces making him curse. The mirror frame suddenly shifted.

Shadow widened his eyes, _I should have known that he would have survived that,_ he thought angrily as he got himself back into a battle position, his body heavily burnt and bruised. During his battle with Mephiles the Dark Mephiles had managed to burn several crates to complete ashes, whilst Shadow had managed to destroy barrels and large pieces of furniture with his chaos spears. All in all they had done serious damage to the other and their surroundings.

Sonic was bewildered at the impact that the mirror had had when it had finally fallen, the entire stone floor where the mirror had hit when it had fallen had a huge, deep indent in it showing that it came down with quite a lot of force...Yet Mephiles still survived it.

Mephiles shifted with a pained groan, the fragile wooden mirror frame breaking apart into splintery wood as he emerged from the wreckage.

"Good move, but not good enough." Mephiles chuckled with pain as he stood up fully, not a single scratch on him.

"Maybe you should match two then if you're so tough."  
Shadow almost fainted with surprise. Sonic was right next to him...STANDING. His body shaking with the power he was forcing into his legs after so long, the blue crystal key in his hand. His legs trembling horribly, not used to standing.

"Sonic...you're..."  
"Back in business," Sonic gave his signature cocky smirk as he gave Shadow the thumbs up, his body starting to sweat at all the energy he was using to just stand alone. But he had done it. He could stand.

"That's impossible." Shadow choked out. "Being disabled is permanent."

"Well, you know me; you can't keep me still for long." He grinned back at Shadows stunned face which was a rarity in Shadow.

"What a happy reunion, now I get to kill the traitor's son and an extra." Mephiles growled at the unexpected turn and threw a black smoke ball at them.

Shadow leapt into the air easily to dodge it whilst Sonic only just missed it as he staggered out of the way. It continued this way for about ten minutes, Sonic becoming so exhausted at being able to walk again that he almost collapsed and Shadow had to come in and rescue him. The mirror shards continued to crack under their feet.

"Sonic, you're not ready for this, LEAVE THIS FIGHT TO ME!" Shadow demanded as he saved sonic from another attack, Mephiles' laugh echoing in their minds.

"No! This is my time Shadow, my time after so long." Sonic burst out angrily.

"You don't understand...I cannot let you do this." Shadow snarled as he held Sonic against the wall by his wrists to stop him moving away, Sonic blushing as Shadows body was flush up against him to stop him from getting away. But the blush soon turned to rage.

"WHY SHADOW? YOU HAVE NO REASON TO!" Sonic shouted at the top of lungs attracting Mephiles attention.

"OF COURSE I DO YOU BLOODY IDIOT! YOU ARE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Shadow yelled back as it turned into a full-blown row.

"AND SINCE WHEN HAS THAT MATTERED TO YOU!" Sonic shouted as he started struggling against Shadows grip. Mephiles was standing behind them, amused and actually letting the argument go on to see the ending.

"IT HAS ALWAYS MATTERED TO ME...I LOVE YOU!" Shadows face suddenly paled as the words he had been trying to get out for so long slipped his lips.

Sonic also froze as those words filled his mind, he felt Shadows grip on his wrists loosen.

"I love you." He said more gently, his words genuine.

"How touching," Mephiles spat in disgust behind them before unleashing another smoke ball.

Xxxx

"We have to help them!" Silver whispered hoarsely to Blaze as he stopped taking photos. "If we don't they will be killed!"

"Well, I am sure Sonics death would definitely make the front page." Blaze replied heartlessly as she continued to scribble on her notepad.

A slap filled the air as Silver slapped her plain across the face. Rage plastered on his own. Blaze stared at him bewildered. Her hand rose to stroke where a bruise would surely form.

"Unlike you Blaze, I class life as more important than a stupid front page." He snarled and Blaze recoiled since she had never seen Silver so angry. "I am helping them, but I won't interfere."

Silver sat crossed legged on the floor, he grabbed the tarantula that was hiding within his spikes and placed her on the cold stone floor in front of him. His back up against the wooden crate as he used his special power, a blue glow enveloped his body as his soul separated from it. The tarantula screeched as a familiar pain coursed through her body as Silvers soul entered her for the second time.

_Hello again, I need you to get to the entrance of this room for me_, Silver said and the tarantulas' soul jumped with joy at hearing the familiar voice in her head once more. Her night vision allowed him to see things crystal clear in the absolute darkness.

Xxxx

"SHADOW!" Rouge continued to scream as she, Knuckles and Tikal were on top of the mansion wreckage searching for Shadow and Sonic. Tikal gave her a look of sympathy.

"Wait...look over there," Tikal suddenly shouted as she pointed at a small black and brown creature waving its arms unnaturally in the air and screeching at the top of its lungs.

"I recognise that spider." Rouge suddenly cried as everyone started homing in towards it.

When they got there the tarantula was trying to beckon them downwards, down through the small hole that it had come from.

"It's trying to tell us something. Quickly everyone, start removing this stuff." Rouge ordered desperately as everyone got to work moving the giant bits of burnt wood.

_Well done_, Silver thanked her as the tarantula had scaled an entire fleet of stairs just to get here. The tarantula's soul smiled at her friend before waiting for everyone to finish removing the debris.

Xxxx

"This battle has gone on long enough; I am tired of playing games." Mephiles shouted infuriated as he controlled the darkness of the room to throw Sonic and Shadow across the room and pin them to the stone walls, both victims gasping as the air was knocked out of their lungs.

"Time to end this...Sonic first."

Xxxx

The last piece of debris was removed, all gasped as a giant hole in the ground with a twirling staircase was revealed, green torches flickering on the walls.

"Hurry! I have a really bad feeling!" Rouge said as they dashed down the hole with Tikal leading the way, Knuckles holding the tarantula in the back as they all rushed down the stone steps.

Xxxx

"Say goodbye, Sonic." Mephiles raised his hand with a purple fire ball swirling in it ready to give the final blow. Shadow struggled against the invisible binds of the darkness, wanting to stop him.

Xxxx

"NO!" Tikal screamed as she reached the end of the staircase and saw Sonic about to be murdered.

Suddenly Mephiles was hit by a strong fire ball. He turned around with a growl of annoyance. There, stood Blaze, her red spectacles reflecting her fire balls beautiful brilliance. She stood their strong and proud, tail swishing menacingly as another ball of flame burned in her palm.

"You may fight with fire...but mine burns deeper." Her words were so powerful that it froze Mephiles in his tracks.

Tikal suddenly started to chant in that unknown language, her staff glowing blue as the words intermingled with the magic within. Whilst Mephiles was distracted she was going to do the forbidden technique.

A terrible wind picked up in the room. All the mirror shards rose form the floor. Their sharp and pointy edges sharp enough to pierce flesh. Mephiles was being held in place by Tikal's powerful blue glow, him struggling furiously against it. Losing his grip on his own dark powers Sonic and Shadow fell to the floor, their dark binds dissipated. Shadow gripped Sonic securely as the wind ruffled both of their head spikes. Rouge held onto Knuckles as the wind got stronger, the glass flying around like a hurricane had hit.

Everything then went deadly still. No one dared to breathe as all the mirror shards suddenly froze in midair. There was no wind, no movement...no sound. Tikal's ocean blue eyes were fixed on Mephiles' revolting green ones...as she thrust her staff to the ground. Blue sparks flew into the air around her as the shards suddenly zoomed towards Mephiles.

Mephiles eyes went wide as he continued to struggle. But it was too late. The sickening sound of piercing flesh filled the air as every single deadly mirror shard shot into Mephiles. There was no scream...just a last breath and deadly silence.

"Bring me that crystal key!" Tikal demanded, tears strangely falling from her eyes at using the forbidden technique. Her, the forest guide...had killed someone. She refused to look at Mephiles' beyond recognisable body.

Shadow immediately grabbed it from the floor and ran towards her, panting as his body had been pushed to its limits in this fight. He slowly handed it to her, which she thanked him for.

"Why are you crying?" Shadow asked softly as Sonic slowly stumbled towards him getting amazed gasps from the others.

"Because I have broke my law, and now I am going to completely seal this monsters soul away. I am doing my job...leading him to his final resting place." She whispered as she said some more words in her unknown language, making the crystal glow within her palm.

From Mephiles' wrecked body flew the blue sparkling lights that were his soul, they all came towards her as she held the blue crystal above her head proudly.

"As the forest guide, I seal your soul away for eternity." She screamed as the blue lights flashed before homing in on the crystal key, all the lights entering the crystal like lightning bolts.

When all of the lights had entered the crystal it suddenly changed colour, it changed from blue to purple since it now held an evil spirit residing within it. But to all their surprise another set of blue lights exited the crystal and Tikal smiled as the soul shards flew around her, welcoming her.

"What is that?" Sonic asked as the blue lights suddenly started flying around him too.

"It's...your father," Tikal smiled gently, Sonic gasping in shock as the lights came back to her. "He has been locked away in that crystal for so long that he welcomes me...welcomes me to take him to his final resting place."

Tikal began to walk away, Sonics father's soul hovering around her happily wanting to rest in peace.

"Don't leave." Knuckles suddenly piped up, the silence unbearable. Tikal turned to him with a laugh.

"We will see each other again, and remember if you ever get lonely, just whistle...I will hear you." and with these final words Tikal walked up the twirling staircase with Sonics father's soul following closely behind her, also taking the now purple crystal key with her. Everyone looked around for the strange purple feline...but she was gone.

xxxx

"Why did you do it Blaze?" Silver asked outside, his soul back in his own body with the tarantula in her usual spot on his shoulder. "Why did you save them?" Blaze gave a hefty sigh in return.

"Because...someone told me that life is worth more than a front page, and I followed that person's words." She sighed as she turned to Silver, the sunlight shining down on her as the wind blew through her purple hair.

"You mean...you give up the story." Silver asked incredulously.

"Well...as you said, life means more than a job." She answered and Silver froze as she gave him the first ever real smile...and Silver smiled in return.


	31. A happy ending

A happy ending

The skies were a beautiful blue with no clouds in sight, a calm and cool breeze sweeping over the pure white sands. The waves lapped peacefully onto the shore filling everyone's ears with its sweet and relaxing sound. The sea was clear and you could see the bottom where small fish and crabs swam quietly with out a care in the world. All was calm in Adabat.

Shadow lay on a deckchair in the shade of a red sun umbrella with a glass of lemonade in his hand, a small, green paper umbrella settling nicely in the glass as the ice clanked around inside.

"I think I needed a vacation after all the shit I've been through this past month." He said to no one in particular as he placed his glass on a small wooden table next to him.

Rouge looked up from where she was laying on a white towel in the sun getting that tan she wanted, her black bikini revealing her back as she lay on her front. She was wearing a pair of purple sunglasses and strangely enough she had a ring on her finger.

"Yeah, I agree. Besides," She began as she gave a smirk to the blue hedgehog having a run on the sands, being back on his feet sure made him happier. "I think this vacation could bring two hedgehogs together nicely."

"You know perfectly well that we are already together Rouge and besides look who's talking...you're the one marrying Knuckles."Shadow opened one of his closed eyes to make eye contact with her, giving her a playful glare and a smirk.

Rouge just smiled warmly back at him before fiddling with the diamond ring on her finger, Knuckles lay next to her also on a towel and watched her with his violet eyes looking over the top his blue sunglasses.

"It's not the biggest jewel I have ever received." Rouge started as she touched the diamond on the engagement ring, knuckles looked crestfallen. "But it is the best." She finished as she turned over to place a kiss on knuckles' cheek, him blushing considerably and smiling.

Shadow watched Sonic run around the beach, he was not as fast as he used to be since he hadn't ran in a while...but it was definite progress with Shadow racing with him everyday to help pick his pace back up. Shadow smiled as Sonic still staggered a tiny bit, but he loved him all the same. His ruby eyes traced Sonics every move as his blue head quills swayed in the breeze.

Suddenly Shadow got up at seeing Sonic take a break. He crept up behind him and grabbed him around the waist from behind making the blue hedgehog jump with a laugh.

"NO!" Sonic laughed as Shadow grabbed him and teased him with a smile by threatening to throw him into the sea. "Get off me you idiot."

"HEY GUYS!" Tails called as he ran up the beach towards them, a piece of paper in his hand fluttering in the wind. It took him a while but he finally reached them with Shadow with his hands still around Sonics waist, but Sonic didn't mind at all.

"It's from Blaze and Silver." Tails gasped out as he finally reached them, the piece of paper slightly crumpled, now that it was close enough however Sonic noticed that it was actually an envelope.

Sonic and the gang had learned about Silver and Blaze a week ago when they had confessed that they were actually a reporter and photographer, knowing that they had lost their jobs anyway. They had become close friends with the ex-reporter and ex-photographer, since they were the ones that saved Shadows neck when they returned to Soleanna.

"**YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" The commander shouted as the old and rusty GUN plane landed back in Soleanna, all the GUN soldiers had immediately ran and restrained Shadow with chains making Rouge scream with fright as they hurt him.**

**Shadow gasped, the chains were incredibly tight on his still bruised wrists. He still hadn't recovered from the battle with Mephiles and Sonic had growled furiously as they hurt his new found lover.**

**Mouthing the words, `I love you` to Sonic as the soldiers roughly dragged him away, their guns raised at his head ready to strike. Rouge had broken down into tears again as they treated him so harshly.**

"**You can't do this to him, he saved the world from the darkest enemy of all...YOU SHOULD BE TREATING HIM LIKE A HERO!" Sonic yelled as he tried to run after Shadow but the GUN soldiers held him back.**

"**He can tell that to the grim reaper when he meets him, you have no proof." The commander laughed evilly as he watched Shadow being taken away, the black ones head looking over his shoulder at Sonic in dismay as they led him away.**

"**YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM!" Rouge screamed horrified as she too tried to go after him, but was held firmly by her wrists by other GUN soldiers.**

"**As for you little missy, you're fired for helping a traitor." The commander said coldly as he glared at her.**

"**I am not the traitor here, YOU ARE!" She yelled with pure fury swimming within her eyes. "You are the one that is going to kill an innocent soul that helped save the world."**

"**ENOUGH! YOU HAVE NO PROOF!" the commander spat as he started to walk away, signalling to the soldiers holding them hostage to follow.**

"**No," Rouge whimpered as she fell to the floor, Knuckles growling at the leaving soldiers before he kneeled down next to her to comfort. "They can't kill him."**

**Sonic was silent, tears streaming down his face at also hearing the horrible news. He had only just found love...to suddenly have him taken away.**

"**We need to help them." Silver whispered to Blaze, they were hiding away in the plane watching through a filthy circle window. "We also know it's true."**

"**I know," She answered sadly as she watched Shadow being taken away to his death. "And we will."**

"**Come again?" Silver asked as Blaze started dragging him out of the plane, the tarantula on his shoulder watching everything intently as both slipped away undetected by the sorrow filled group.**

**Everything they had done. The notes and all the pictures that Silver had taken through out the journey, were all given to the commander in his office. All pure proof that what everyone else had said was true. At first the commander refused to believe it, but he couldn't deny the solid proof. Anyway they didn't have their jobs anymore so they just gave everything up for a better cause. Blaze and Silver had given up everything and saved Shadow.**

"**Can we have them back?" Blaze asked, maybe she could still save her job. But Silver nudged her with his elbow angrily.**

"**No, this is all proof that I must keep for reference for Shadow. But is their anyway I can repay you?" The commander answered truthfully as he waited for their answer. **

**Silver and Blaze looked at each other for second before Silver told the commander about their wicked boss wanting the front page in one week, but they had spent over a month because they had to follow Shadow and the others. He told him how they had now lost their jobs.**

"**I will see if I can persuade him to let you keep your jobs." **

"Well, open it up buddy." Sonic said as he chuckled when he felt Shadow wrap his arms around him tighter and nestle gently into his neck with a purr. Sonic had grown immensely fond of the black hedgehogs cute motives.

Tails took a deep breath as he steadied himself from his run, his two tails swishing around unconsciously as he ripped the top bit of the envelope off, Rouge and Knuckles sat up in interest as they waited. Tails took the letter out and began to read.

_Hello everyone, Silver here!_

_How is everyone doing? I hope you are all well after everything you've been through. I heard that the commander gave you guys a months vacation in Adabat as an apology. I am so jealous. Me and Blaze are doing fine, in fact we are ecstatic!_

_When we had given up all the proof that we could have used to save our jobs the commander told us he would persuade our boss to give us back our jobs. Well this is what happened. _

_The commander came marching into our work building, over a hundred soldiers along with him holding guns. They burst into our boss' room and threatened him head on to give us back our jobs. He was so terrified that he resigned as boss of the newspaper company, and guess what, BLAZE IS NOW THE BOSS OF THE COMPANY. I am her head photographer of course. I hope you guys have a good time._

_Silver xxx_

Tails then took out some photos that were within the envelope, they were of Blaze in her new boss office with a huge grin on her face. The desk had a card saying `the new boss` on it and in the background was a glass tank next to the giant glass window of the office. A black and brown tarantula was happily crawling around within it.

Shadow shuddered at seeing the spider and Sonic smirked at him as the black hedgehog nestled considerably harder into his neck. When Silver had gotten near Shadow with the tarantula on his shoulder after they had returned to Soleanna Shadow had gone ballistic and went as pale as a sheet, he had taken a considerable number of steps back...about twenty metres. That was when Sonic had discovered that Shadow was afraid of spiders and it was always his mission to grab any if they were in the bedroom.

"It seems it has all worked out just fine then." Rouge said from her position on her white towel as she lay back down on her back this time, wanting her front to get a bit tanner. Knuckles doing the same as he relaxed in the sun next to her, fiddling with the bone whistle around his neck that Tikal had given him.

"Yes it did, even Sonic got his legs back." Shadow smiled as he squeezed Sonics waist teasingly, still refusing to let go as Sonic laughed cheerfully.

"Well, you can't call me sorrow on wheels anymore." Sonic laughed as he playfully leant back into Shadows arms and laid his head against the white chest fur of his dominant lover.

xxxx

"I miss you Knuckles." Tikal muttered gloomily as she sat on the stone steps inside her spirit temple, the blue souls gracefully floating in the air trying to comfort her, the latest addition was Sonics father's soul that liked to stay particularly close to Tikal.

It was dark within the temple, the walls covered in ancient writing and pictures that told the tale of the master emerald, the lights of the purple flaming torches revealing them every now and then in the near darkness. It wasn't much, but it was home.

Her staff lay on the next step below her as she sat there and sighed with loneliness. She had put the purple crystal key containing Mephiles' soul at the top of those stairs, sitting there on a sandy stone altar. The purple glow surrounding it telling all that saw it of the evil held within. The purplish colour swirled around within the crystal as it held a threatening aura as it sat there in solitude on its altar. Everyone was forbidden to touch it.

Tikal stood up with another sad sigh; all the good blue souls in the room froze as their guide seemed so miserable. Sonics father's soul followed Tikal as she went down the stairs and went out to have a breath of fresh air. Silence filled the room except for the crackling of the purple embers. Suddenly all of the souls in the room went wild. All the blue souls hovered nervously around the purple crystal key on its stone altar. The crystal key began to crack.

**xXEND OF STORYXx**

**There it is guys, what did you think overall? Anyone that reads my story after this point is still free to review. I hope you enjoyed my first story, but I won't have another one on for a long time. Hope to read from you soon. YOU ARE ****NOT ****ALLOWED TO USE MY STORY FOR ANYTHING OR TAKE MY IDEAS! I have spent a lot of time and effort writing this and I am very strong about it. If I do find out that people are doing this I will take the story off of fanfiction. I am very strong about it! ****Anyway to those that just read to enjoy and not to steal, like people have done to me in the past, I am sorry you had to read that.**** Please have sympathy. **

**xXSonicgirl582Xx**


	32. NO! To the one labeled as 'Guest'

Dear the owner of this review:

**Guest ****8/21/12 . chapter 31 **

**This was fantastic. And by the way can i use some details in the story too write my own lease. Plus can u sen me some pictures of the story to me please  
at**

No, I said in the note at the very bottom of the last chapter that I did not want people taking my ideas and using them as their own. So no, I would very much appreciate it if you came up with your own ideas and be original—even if you just want to use_ 'details' _I still do not want you to. Sorry about this. Everyone has their own writing style and you need to find your own that feels right to you.

What do you mean 'send me some _pictures_ of the story' ? a) I have no pictures, this story was created from beginning to end by me and as far as I know no one on DA has done any fanart for the story. I would know this as I am on DA with the same username. -_- b) I wouldn't have been able to anyway even if I had any 'pictures' considering your review is unfinished. The fact that you want pictures is highly suspicious and I don't like it at all.

I don't mean to sound rude, and if I do I am sorry. I am thoroughly glad that you liked my story and the fact you called this old piece of written stuff 'fantastic' is way more than I could ask for. :)

But please...make a story entirely on your own ideas and details please. Using mine is not showing originality or ability to show off what _you _can do on your own. ^^

As you have caught my interest, I would very much love to read your story when you have it up. If this story is not a fanfiction then DEFINITELY NO TO YOUR QUESTIONS! I don't want you using my details if this i_s _the case! I find that very out of order.

Please contact me with another review stating details of what you mean. But either way, my answer to your questions is: no.

Apologies.

Sincerely:

Sonicgirl582/SG582/ND/NicoleD


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